Identifying the influence of terrestrial–aquatic connectivity on palaeoecological inferences of past climate in Arctic lakes

Abstract

Increased hydrological connectivity due to permafrost degradation is likely to have substantial implications for shallow aquatic systems common to sub-arctic landscapes due to changes to overland and subsurface flow of water and transport of sediments and dissolved nutrients. Here, we explore the influence of increased connectivity on aquatic productivity based on multi-parameter palaeolimnological analysis of two lakes located near Inuvik (Northwest Territories, Canada). We contrast a lake with little evidence of permafrost degradation in the surrounding area (Lake PG03) to one that has multiple connections to the terrestrial landscape through a network of thaw polygons in the lake catchment (Lake PG09). Comparisons of biological indicators (chironomids) and organic carbon and nitrogen elemental and isotope composition reveal recent divergent lake histories. The chironomid assemblage of Lake PG03 followed an expected temperature gradient, with a warming signal evident since ˜1970 CE, whereas the chironomid assemblage of Lake PG09 was found to primarily respond to nutrient availability and changes in habitat, likely as a result of increasing hydrological connectivity to the landscape. Rapid assemblage and habitat change along with a prominent increase in chironomid abundance were observed at Lake PG09 after ˜1960 CE, following a shift to greater inputs from the terrestrial environment as indicated by high C:N ratios (>15) and low δ¹³C_org (−30‰). Increased aquatic productivity following high allochthonous additions (˜1960–2014 CE) is supported by decreased C:N and rapidly increasing organic matter (C_org, N). These results demonstrate that increased connectivity along the terrestrial–aquatic interface for lakes is likely to foster elevated productivity in the future. Likewise, increased production poses a challenge to chironomid-inferred July air temperature reconstructions in lakes that are less resilient to secondary gradients, where analogue mismatches can occur due to shifts in dominance of indicators that are orthogonal to the temperature gradient.