European Large Lakes

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-2

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2. Climate Change and Anthropogenic Impacts on Large Lakes Ecosystems

   1. Nutrients and phytoplankton in Lake Peipsi during two periods that differed in water level and temperature

      • Marina Haldna, Anu Milius, Reet Laugaste, Külli Kangur

      Pages 3-11

   2. Pollen, diatom and plant macrofossil assemblages indicate a low water level phase of Lake Peipsi at the beginning of the Holocene

      • Tiit Hang, Volli Kalm, Kersti Kihno, Martynas Milkevičius

      Pages 13-21

   3. Water level changes in a large shallow lake as reflected by the plankton:periphyton-ratio of sedimentary diatoms

      • Atko Heinsalu, Helen Luup, Tiiu Alliksaar, Peeter Nõges, Tiina Nõges

      Pages 23-30

   4. Changes in spatial distribution of phosphorus and nitrogen in the large north-temperate lowland Lake Peipsi (Estonia/Russia)

      • Külli Kangur, Tõnu Möls

      Pages 31-39

   5. Recent trends in Lake Ladoga ice cover

      • Sergey G. Karetnikov, Mikhail A. Naumenko

      Pages 41-48

   6. History of anthropogenically mediated eutrophication of Lake Peipsi as revealed by the stratigraphy of fossil pigments and molecular size fractions of pore-water dissolved organic matter

      • Aina Leeben, Ilmar Toñnno, Rene Freiberg, Viia Lepane, Nicolas Bonningues, Natalja Makarõtševa et al.

      Pages 49-58

   7. Seasonality and trends in the Secchi disk transparency of Lake Ladoga

      • Mikhail A. Naumenko

      Pages 59-65

   8. Silicon load and the development of diatoms in three river-lake systems in countries surrounding the Baltic Sea

      • Peeter Nõges, Tiina Nõges, Rita Adrian, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer

      Pages 67-76

   9. Critical N:P ratio for cyanobacteria and N2-fixing species in the large shallow temperate lakes Peipsi and Võrtsjärv, North-East Europe

      • Tiina Nõges, Reet Laugaste, Peeter Nõges, Ilmar Tõnno

      Pages 77-86

   10. Phytoplankton nitrogen demand and the significance of internal and external nitrogen sources in a large shallow lake (Lake Balaton, Hungary)

       • Mátyás Présing, Péter Sprőber, Attila W. Kovács, Lajos Vörös, Gyöngyi Kenesi, Tom Preston et al.

       Pages 87-95

   11. Changes in the water level of Lake Peipsi and their reflection in a sediment core

       • Jaan-Mati Punning, Galina Kapanen, Mihkel Kangur, Tiit Hang, Natalia Davydova

       Pages 97-104

   12. Rates of change in physical and chemical lake variables — are they comparable between large and small lakes?

       • Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer

       Pages 105-110

   13. Increasingly ice-free winters and their effects on water quality in Sweden’s largest lakes

       • Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Anna-Karin Westöö, Eva Willén

       Pages 111-118

   14. Phosphorus fractions and alkaline phosphatase activity in sediments of a large eutrophic Chinese lake (Lake Taihu)

       • Yiyong Zhou, Chunlei Song, Xiuyun Cao, Jianqiu Li, Guoyuan Chen, Zhuoying Xia et al.

       Pages 119-125

3. Food Web Interactions and Dynamics in Large Lakes

   1. The impact of the invasive Ponto-Caspian amphipod Pontogammarus robustoides on littoral communities in Lithuanian lakes

      • Simona Gumuliauskaitė, Kęstutis Arbačiauskas

      Pages 127-134

   2. Spatiotemporal and long-term variation in phytoplankton communities in the oligotrophic Lake Pyhäjärvi on the Finnish-Russian border

      • Anna-Liisa Holopainen, Liisa Lepistö, Riitta Niinioja, Anita Rämö

      Pages 135-141

   3. Plant-associated invertebrates and hydrological balance in the large volcanic Lake Bracciano (Central Italy) during two years with different water levels

      • Luciana Mastrantuono, Angelo G. Solimini, Peeter Nõges, Marcello Bazzanti

      Pages 143-152

   4. A comparison of zooplankton densities and biomass in Lakes Peipsi and Võrtsjärv (Estonia): rotifers and crustaceans versus ciliates

      • Priit Zingel, Juta Haberman

      Pages 153-159

4. Modeling Tools in Large Lakes Research

   1. Validation of the MERIS products on large European lakes: Peipsi, Vänern and Vättern

      • Krista Alikas, Anu Reinart

      Pages 161-168

Large lakes are important because of their size and ecological distinctiveness as well as their economic and cultural value. Optimal management of them requires a proper understanding of anthropogenic impacts both on the lake ecosystems as such and on the services they provide for society. The specific structural and functional properties of large lakes, e.g. morphology, hydrography, biogeochemical cycles and food-web structure, are all directly related to their size. Although large lakes are among the best-studied ecosystems in the world, the application to them of environmental regulations such as the European Water Framework Directive is a challenging task and requires that several natural and management aspects specific to these water bodies are adequately considered. These vulnerable ecosystems often suffer from accelerated eutrophication, over-fishing, toxic contamination and invasive species. Large lakes offer socio-economic benefits and can be used in many ways, and are often areas in which economic, cultural and political interests overlap. In this book the problems regarding the present status of European large lakes and the directions of change are discussed. Threats caused by direct human impact and by climate change, protection needs and restoration measures are considered.

• Eutrophication
• Large Lake Ecology
• Large Lake Modelling
• Larke Lake Management
• Remote Sensing
• Sediment
• Water Policy
• biogeochemical cycles
• development
• ecosystem
• environment
• phytoplankton
• plankton
• production
• temperature

• Centre for Limnology, Institute of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Estonian University of Life Sciences, Rannu, Tartumaa, Estonia

  Tiina Nõges, Külli Kangur, Peeter Nõges

• Limnological Institute, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

  Reiner Eckmann

• Institute for Environment and Sustainability, European Commission — Joint Research Centre, Ispra (VA), Italy

  Peeter Nõges

• Tartu Observatory, Tõravere, Tartu County, Estonia

  Anu Reinart

• Peipsi Centre for Transboundary Cooperation, Tartu, Estonia

  Gulnara Roll

• Faculty of Biosciences, Ecological Research Institute, University of Joensuu, Joensuu, Finland

  Heikki Simola, Markku Viljanen

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