Tree dieback and subsequent changes in water quality accelerated the climate-related warming of a central European forest lake

Abstract

The water temperature of many lakes has recently risen as a result of climate change. We evaluated trends in the cloudiness, solar radiation, wind, air and water temperatures, ice cover, thermocline depth, transparency, and composition of two Bohemian Forest lakes (Czech Republic) from 1998 to 2022. Lake water temperatures increased by 0.32–0.47 °C decade−1, and the ice cover periods decreased by 11.7–14.8 days decade−1. These changes were mostly associated with increasing air temperatures during most months and increasing solar radiation (due to decreasing cloudiness) especially in March and November (the months preceding ice-on/off). Decreasing snow cover in winter (by 3.8 cm decade−1) further accelerated the earlier ice melt. The number of days with water temperature ≥4 °C increased similarly in both lakes by 12–13 days decade−1. However, the number of days with water temperature ≥20 °C increased and the depth of the summer thermocline decreased more in the lake with tree dieback in its catchment. Tree dieback accelerated the leaching of organic carbon and phosphorus, increasing water brownification, algal production, and decreasing water transparency. Solar radiation was absorbed in shallower water layers. Changes in catchment forest thus contributed to the variability in the response of lake water temperatures to climate change.