POTENTIAL EFFECTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS OF THE GREAT PLAINS OF NORTH AMERICA

✍ Scribed by A. P. COVICH; S. C. FRITZ; P. J. LAMB; R. D. MARZOLF; W. J. MATTHEWS; K. A. POIANI; E. E. PREPAS; M. B. RICHMAN; T. C. WINTER

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 436 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0885-6087
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1085(19970630)11:8<993::aid-hyp515>3.0.co;2-n

✦ Synopsis

The Great Plains landscape is less topographically complex than most other regions within North America, but diverse aquatic ecosystems, such as playas, pothole lakes, ox-bow lakes, springs, groundwater aquifers, intermittent and ephemeral streams, as well as large rivers and wetlands, are highly dynamic and responsive to extreme climatic ¯uctuations. We review the evidence for climatic change that demonstrates the historical importance of extremes in north±south dierences in summer temperatures and east±west dierences in aridity across four large subregions. These physical driving forces alter density strati®cation, deoxygenation, decomposition and salinity. Biotic community composition and associated ecosystem processes of productivity and nutrient cycling respond rapidly to these climatically driven dynamics. Ecosystem processes also respond to cultural eects such as dams and diversions of water for irrigation, waste dilution and urban demands for drinking water and industrial uses. Distinguishing climatic from cultural eects in future models of aquatic ecosystem functioning will require more re®nement in both climatic and economic forecasting. There is a need, for example, to predict how long-term climatic forecasts (based on both ENSO and global warming simulations) relate to the permanence and productivity of shallow water ecosystems. Aquatic ecologists, hydrologists, climatologists and geographers have much to discuss regarding the synthesis of available data and the design of future interdisciplinary research.