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A modeling approach for assessing the effect of multiple alpine lakes in sequence on nutrient transport

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Abstract

The effects of a single lake on downstream water chemistry may be compounded by the presence of additional lakes within the watershed, augmenting or negating the effects of the first lake. Multiple, linked lakes are a common feature of many watersheds and these resemble reactors in series often studied in engineering. The effects of multiple lakes in series on nutrient transport are largely unexplored. We populated and calibrated a simple lake model to investigate the role of a sub-alpine lake (Bull Trout Lake (BTL), Rocky Mountains, USA) on the transport of the macronutrients during the summer of 2008. Further, we developed a sequential model in which four identical lakes (copies of the BTL model) were connected in series. All lakes in the sequence retarded the flux of nutrients, thus slowing their transport downstream. The first lake in the sequence dramatically altered stream water chemistry and served as a sink for C and P and a source of N, while additional lakes downstream became sources of C, N and P. Although additional downstream lakes resulted in important changes to water chemistry and nutrient transport, the nature of the changes were similar from Lakes 2 to 4 and the magnitude of the changes diminished with distance downstream. Our lake model served as an effective tool for assessing the nutrient budget of the lake and the hypothetical effect of multiple lakes in sequence in a landscape limnology framework.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Brian McGlynn, Michelle Baker, Michelle Kang, Caleb Izdepski, Ian Washbourne, Tim Covino, Malcolm Herstad, Alexi Kalanin, Cyri Dixon, Natalie Day, Rene Henery and Heloisa Rutigliano for assistance in data collection. Susan Durham assisted in statistical analysis of data. The U.S. Forest Service provided access to the study site. We would like to thank four anonymous reviewers whose comments greatly improved this manuscript. This research was funded by a Grant from the National Science Foundation (DEB 05-19327) awarded to Wayne A Wurtsbaugh and Michelle A Baker.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Watershed Sciences and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5205 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Dave M. Epstein & Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh

  2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Utah Water Research Laboratory, 8200 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Bethany T. Neilson & David K. Stevens

  3. Department of Biology and the Ecology Center, Utah State University, 5305 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT, 84322, USA

    Keli J. Goodman

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  1. Dave M. Epstein
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  2. Bethany T. Neilson
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  4. David K. Stevens
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  5. Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh
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Correspondence to Dave M. Epstein.

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Epstein, D.M., Neilson, B.T., Goodman, K.J. et al. A modeling approach for assessing the effect of multiple alpine lakes in sequence on nutrient transport. Aquat Sci 75, 199–212 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-012-0267-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-012-0267-2

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