title: Local forcings affect lake zooplankton vulnerability and response to climate warming.
abstract: While considerable insights on the ecological consequences of climate change have been gained from studies conducted on remote lakes, little has been done on lakes under direct human exposure. Ecosystem vulnerability and responses to climate warming might yet largely depend on the ecological state and thus on local anthropogenic pressures. We tested this hypothesis through a paleolimnological approach on three temperate large lakes submitted to rather similar climate warming but varying intensities of analogous local forcings (changes in nutrient inputs and fisheries management practices). Changes in the structure of the cladoceran community were considered as revealing for alterations, over the time, of the pelagic food web. Trajectories of the cladoceran communities were compared among the three study lakes (Lakes Geneva, Bourget, and Annecy) over the last 70-150 years. Generalized additive models were used to develop a hierarchical understanding of the respective roles of local stressors and climate warming in structuring cladoceran communities. The cladoceran communities were not equally affected by climate warming between lakes. In Lake Annecy, which is the most nutrient-limited, the cladoceran community was essentially controlled by local stressors, with very limited impact of climate. In contrast, the more nutrient-loaded Lakes Geneva and Bourget were more sensitive to climate warming, although the magnitude of their responses and the pathways under which climate warming affected the communities varied between the two lakes. Finally, our results demonstrated that lake vulnerability and responses to climate warming are modulated by lake trophic status but can also be altered by fisheries management practices through changes in fish predation pressure.
authors.affiliation: INRA, University of Savoie, UMR 0042 CARRTEL, F-74203 Thonon les Bains, France.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Alric
authors.affiliation: INRA, University of Savoie, UMR 0042 CARRTEL, F-74203 Thonon les Bains, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Philippe
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Jenny
authors.affiliation: INRA, University of Savoie, UMR 0042 CARRTEL, F-74203 Thonon les Bains, France.
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Berthon
authors.affiliation: University of Savoie, UMR 5204 ED YTEM, F-73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
authors.forename: Fabien
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arnaud
authors.affiliation: University of Savoie, UMR 5204 ED YTEM, F-73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
authors.forename: Cecile
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Pignol
authors.affiliation: CNRS, UMR 8212 Laboratory for Climate Science and Environment, F-91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
authors.forename: Jean-Louis
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Reyss
authors.affiliation: University of Savoie, UMR 5204 ED YTEM, F-73376 Le Bourget du Lac, France.
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sabatier
authors.affiliation: INRA, University of Savoie, UMR 0042 CARRTEL, F-74203 Thonon les Bains, France.
authors.forename: Marie-Elodie
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Perga
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D033361:Cladocera / Q000502:physiology; D057231:Climate Change; D017753:Ecosystem; D005602:France; D060106:Lakes; D013997:Time Factors; D015048:Zooplankton / Q000502:physiology*