Ecology and extent of freshwater browning - What we know and what should be studied next in the context of global change
Year of publication
2022
Authors
Blanchet, Clarisse C.; Arzel, Celine; Davranche, Aurelie; Kahilainen, Kimmo K.; Secondi, Jean; Taipale, Sami; Lindberg, Henrik; Loehr, John; Manninen-Johansen, Sanni; Sundell, Janne; Maanan, Mohamed; Nummi, Petri
Abstract
Water browning or brownification refers to increasing water color, often related to increasing dissolved organic matter (DOM) and carbon (DOC) content in freshwaters. Browning has been recognized as a significant physicochemical phenomenon altering boreal lakes, but our understanding of its ecological consequences in different freshwater habitats and regions is limited. Here, we review the consequences of browning on different freshwater habitats, food webs and aquatic-terrestrial habitat coupling. We examine global trends of browning and DOM/DOC, and the use of remote sensing as a tool to investigate browning from local to global scales. Studies have focused on lakes and rivers while seldom addressing effects at the catchment scale. Other freshwater habitats such as small and temporary waterbodies have been overlooked, making the study of the entire network of the catchment incomplete. While past research investigated the response of primary producers, aquatic invertebrates and fishes, the effects of browning on macrophytes, invasive species, and food webs have been understudied. Research has focused on freshwater habitats without considering the fluxes between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. We highlight the importance of understanding how the changes in one habitat may cascade to another. Browning is a broader phenomenon than the heretofore concentration on the boreal region. Overall, we propose that future studies improve the ecological understanding of browning through the following research actions: 1) increasing our knowledge of ecological processes of browning in other wetland types than lakes and rivers, 2) assessing the impact of browning on aquatic food webs at multiple scales, 3) examining the effects of browning on aquatic-terrestrial habitat coupling, 4) expanding our knowledge of browning from the local to global scale, and 5) using remote sensing to examine browning and its ecological consequences.
Show moreOrganizations and authors
University of Helsinki
Davranche Aurelie
Arzel Celine
Blanchet Clarisse C.
Lindberg Henrik
Sundell Janne
Loehr John
Kahilainen Kimmo K.
Nummi Petri
Häme University of Applied Sciences
Lindberg Henrik
Publication type
Publication format
Article
Parent publication type
Journal
Article type
Review article
Audience
ScientificPeer-reviewed
Peer-ReviewedMINEDU's publication type classification code
A2 Review article, Literature review, Systematic reviewPublication channel information
Journal
Parent publication name
Publisher
Volume
812
Article number
152420
ISSN
Publication forum
Publication forum level
2
Open access
Open access in the publisher’s service
Yes
Open access of publication channel
Partially open publication channel
Self-archived
Yes
License of the self-archived publication
CC BY
Other information
Fields of science
Environmental sciences; Ecology, evolutionary biology
Keywords
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Publication country
Netherlands
Internationality of the publisher
International
Language
English
International co-publication
Yes
Co-publication with a company
No
DOI
10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152420
The publication is included in the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Publication data collection
Yes