High-altitude lakes and climate change
High-altitude lakes are not only subject to exacerbated atmospheric warming but also highly exposed to intense episodic weather events. The future of these ecosystems under climate change might not be appropriately forecasted by only climate change trends, i.e., warming, if episodic events and hydrological changes have the potential to deflect the seasonal trajectory of crucial physical and metabolic lake characteristics.
We combine paleo-ecology, low- and high frequency surveys and modeling to explore how changes due to climate change affect the temperature, ecology and biogeochemistry of high-altitude lakes and reservoirs.
See:
Herr, I. , Bouffard, D., Perga M-E. (in review). Decoupling Air and Water: How Throughflow Shapes Alpine Lake Temperatures. Inland Waters.
Dory F, Arthaud F, Augé V, Baillot S, Bertrand C, Birck C, . . . Perga M-E (2025) Vulnerable but not equal: Mountain lakes exhibit heterogeneous patterns of phytoplankton responses to climate change. Limnology and Oceanography Letters, 10.1002/lol2.70034.
Tiberti, R., Dory, F., Arthaud, F., Augé, V., Birk, C., Cavalli, L., Fontaneto, D., Napoleoni, R., Perga, M.E., Sabás, I., Sagot, C., Sommaruga, R. (2025) Long-term changes of zooplankton in alpine lakes result from a combination of local and global threats. Biological Conservation 308, 111222.
M.E Perga, C. Minaudo, T. Doda F. Arthaud, H. Beria, H.E. Chmiel, N. Escoffier, T. Lambert, R. Napolleoni, B. Obrador, P. Perolo, J. Rüegg, H.N. Ulloa, D. Bouffard (2023). Near-bed stratification controls bottom hypoxia in ice-covered alpine lakes. Limnology and Oceanography. https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12341
Perga M-E, Bruel R, Rodriguez L, Guénand Y, Bouffard D (2018) Storm impacts on alpine lakes: Antecedent weather conditions matter more than the event intensity. Global Change Biology, 24, 5004-5016.
Bonus:
21 Questions sur le lac de la Muzelle – Perga M.-E. (2025) .