• Energy Research

Ecological restoration is essential to sustain the important production, regulation, and cultural services that fresh waters provide. This chapter reviews the success of freshwater restoration actions in the light of current policies, including current understanding on the scale of restoration needed and timescales in recovery. Freshwater restoration in developing economies is still at an early stage in many countries, with gross organic and industrial pollution being widespread and often an increasing problem. The first step in developing any restoration plan is identifying targets for restoration and assessment of the cause of degradation. This requires monitoring data and appropriate diagnostic tools. The chapter focuses on restoration approaches within, or in close proximity to, waterbodies themselves. Most lake restoration programmes require external loading reductions to be in place before other approaches are considered. The concept of preventative management to off-set projected effects of climate change is gaining ground in freshwater sciences.

Ecological restoration is essential to sustain the important production, regulation, and cultural services that fresh waters provide. This chapter reviews the success of freshwater restoration actions in the light of current policies, including current understanding on the scale of restoration needed and timescales in recovery. Freshwater restoration in developing economies is still at an early stage in many countries, with gross organic and industrial pollution being widespread and often an increasing problem. The first step in developing any restoration plan is identifying targets for restoration and assessment of the cause of degradation. This requires monitoring data and appropriate diagnostic tools. The chapter focuses on restoration approaches within, or in close proximity to, waterbodies themselves. Most lake restoration programmes require external loading reductions to be in place before other approaches are considered. The concept of preventative management to off-set projected effects of climate change is gaining ground in freshwater sciences.

AbstractIn many regions across the globe, extreme weather events such as storms have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration due to climate change. Ecological theory predicts that such extreme events should have large impacts on ecosystem structure and function. High winds and precipitation associated with storms can affect lakes via short‐term runoff events from watersheds and physical mixing of the water column. In addition, lakes connected to rivers and streams will also experience flushing due to high flow rates. Although we have a well‐developed understanding of how wind and precipitation events can alter lake physical processes and some aspects of biogeochemical cycling, our mechanistic understanding of the emergent responses of phytoplankton communities is poor. Here we provide a comprehensive synthesis that identifies how storms interact with lake and watershed attributes and their antecedent conditions to generate changes in lake physical and chemical environments. Such changes can restructure phytoplankton communities and their dynamics, as well as result in altered ecological function (e.g., carbon, nutrient and energy cycling) in the short‐ and long‐term. We summarize the current understanding of storm‐induced phytoplankton dynamics, identify knowledge gaps with a systematic review of the literature, and suggest future research directions across a gradient of lake types and environmental conditions.

AbstractIn many regions across the globe, extreme weather events such as storms have increased in frequency, intensity, and duration due to climate change. Ecological theory predicts that such extreme events should have large impacts on ecosystem structure and function. High winds and precipitation associated with storms can affect lakes via short‐term runoff events from watersheds and physical mixing of the water column. In addition, lakes connected to rivers and streams will also experience flushing due to high flow rates. Although we have a well‐developed understanding of how wind and precipitation events can alter lake physical processes and some aspects of biogeochemical cycling, our mechanistic understanding of the emergent responses of phytoplankton communities is poor. Here we provide a comprehensive synthesis that identifies how storms interact with lake and watershed attributes and their antecedent conditions to generate changes in lake physical and chemical environments. Such changes can restructure phytoplankton communities and their dynamics, as well as result in altered ecological function (e.g., carbon, nutrient and energy cycling) in the short‐ and long‐term. We summarize the current understanding of storm‐induced phytoplankton dynamics, identify knowledge gaps with a systematic review of the literature, and suggest future research directions across a gradient of lake types and environmental conditions.