Hillman Ashley, Nielsen Scott E
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada.
Landsc Ecol. 2025;40(7):124. doi: 10.1007/s10980-025-02146-5. Epub 2025 Jun 23.
Lakes can provide thermal refugia effects by buffering shoreline and inland temperatures, potentially delaying forest transitions. However, this effect has not been quantified for the majority of boreal Canada lakes, which are often excluded in general circulation model predictions of climate, thus potentially underestimating the effects of lake-mediated buffering.
Here, we quantify the effects of varying lake morphometry on temperature buffering potential of 11 boreal lakes in central to western Canada. We aim to provide context for lake-mediated climate buffering in Canada's boreal forest.
We established inland transects at 11 lakes in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and the NWT of Canada, with temperature stations at 10 m, 100 m, 1 km, 10 km, and 100 km from shore. We predicted the effects of lake characteristics on mean July temperature anomaly, net ice-off period temperature anomaly, and the proportion of coniferous trees at sites.
July temperatures were coolest on the downwind side of lakes, within 10 km of shore, and at lakes with a high volume (Rc = 0.71), Near-shore sites were cooler than inland sites, particularly at a lower altitude above the lake and larger lake volumes (Rc = 0.66). Ice-off temperature anomalies were best predicted by the interaction between lake area and average lake depth (Rc = 0.55). Lastly, the proportion of coniferous trees at sites was best predicted by mean July temperature (Rc = 0.41).
We identified lakes across boreal Canada large enough to provide seasonal temperature buffering on their shoreline and nearshore forests, with an aim for inclusion in circulation models and to guide management and conservation efforts associated with lake-mediated climate refugia.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10980-025-02146-5.
湖泊可通过缓冲海岸线和内陆温度来提供热避难所效应，这可能会延迟森林演替。然而，对于加拿大大部分北方湖泊而言，这种效应尚未得到量化，这些湖泊在气候的一般环流模型预测中常常被排除在外，因此可能低估了湖泊介导的缓冲效应。
在此，我们量化了不同湖泊形态对加拿大中西部11个北方湖泊温度缓冲潜力的影响。我们旨在为加拿大北方森林中湖泊介导的气候缓冲提供背景信息。
我们在加拿大安大略省、曼尼托巴省、萨斯喀彻温省、艾伯塔省和西北地区的11个湖泊建立了内陆样带，在距离岸边10米、100米、1公里、10公里和100公里处设置了温度站。我们预测了湖泊特征对7月平均温度异常、净解冻期温度异常以及站点针叶树比例的影响。
7月温度在湖泊下风岸、距离岸边10公里范围内以及容积较大的湖泊（Rc = 0.71）处最低。近岸站点比内陆站点凉爽，特别是在湖泊上方较低海拔和较大湖泊容积的情况下（Rc = 0.66）。解冻温度异常最好通过湖泊面积与平均湖深之间的相互作用来预测（Rc = 0.55）。最后，站点针叶树的比例最好通过7月平均温度来预测（Rc = 0.41）。
我们确定了加拿大北方地区有足够大的湖泊，能够为其海岸线和近岸森林提供季节性温度缓冲，目的是将其纳入环流模型，并指导与湖泊介导的气候避难所相关的管理和保护工作。
在线版本包含可在10.1007/s10980-025-02146-5获取的补充材料。
