The Impact of Trophic Status and Climate Change on the Benthic Community in Lake Sevan, Armenia
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Date
2019
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Ankara : Ankara Üniversitesi
Abstract
Artificial water level drop and eutrophication radically changed the ecosystem of Lake Sevan. During 1928-2018
the Values of Primary Production of the Lake (VPPL = phytoplankton production + phytobenthos production) and varied
energy equivalent of biomass (BZ) and gross production (PZ) of zoobenthos varied by a factor of 10 or more. Strong positive
dependencies of both BZ and PZ on VPPL were found. Similar dependencies were also revealed separately for
Chironomidae, Oligochaeta and detritivores. Regression equations of dependencies were then used to estimate the
development of zoobenthos under different trophic conditions: oligotrophic, mesotrophic and eutrophic. Significant climate
change was observed over the past 80 years. From 1935–2012, the annual mean temperature in Armenia increased by
1.03°C. The climate change projections for Lake Sevan are an increase of mean annual water temperature of 0.5°C by
2030, 2°C by 2070 and 4°C by 2100 against the baseline of 9.1°C. Observations showed that in Lake Sevan an order of
magnitude increase of VPPL results in an increase of the gross production of macrozoobenthos by factor of 7. Meanwhile,
a 4°C temperature increase is estimated to increase the rate of zoobenthos production (PZ/BZ) only by a factor of 2.
Therefore, the most effective measure required for the mitigation of climate change effects on the Lake Sevan ecosystem is
keeping the trophic status of the lake as low as possible, and should include:
- runoff prevention of of organic materials from agricultural, industrial and domestic origins into Lake Sevan;
- prohibition of any activity that involves the use of organic phosphorus and organic nitrogen directly in the lake.
Description
Keywords
Trophic status, Zoobenthos