The changing trophic status of shallow Minnesota lakes: evidence from stable isotopic and biological proxies

Shallow lakes can exist in two alternative stable regimes: a clear-water regime dominated by macrophytes with little phytoplankton abundance, or a turbid-water regime where conditions are the opposite. There is a need for more historical studies of shallow lakes as these systems constitute a critical habitat for waterfowl across a large region of the upper Midwestern U.S. and Canada and evidence suggests that the clear regime is preferable for healthy communities of the waterfowl and desired fish populations. Recent work also suggests that the clear regime favors the enhanced burial of organic carbon and thus might constitute an important natural sink for greenhouse gases. Here, we report on our study of C and N elemental and stable isotopic values of organic matter and biological proxies from the sediment core records of numerous shallow lakes in west-central MN and in other areas of the state. These records span the last few centuries including the time of settlement of the region and they have been age dated using 210Pb and ambrosia pollen counts. Results of our work suggest that in the past 50-60 years the majority of the lakes have shifted towards a generally more turbid, eutrophic, and algal-dominated condition that is less favorable to both carbon burial and desired animal habitat.