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Published Online June 26, 2003
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1084846

Reports

Submitted on March 24, 2003
Accepted on June 12, 2003

Ecological Consequences of a Century of Warming in Lake Tanganyika

Piet Verburg 1*, Robert E. Hecky 1, Hedy Kling 2

1 Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, On, Canada N2L 3G1.
2 Algal Taxonomy and Ecology Inc, c/o Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, MB, Canada R3T 2N6.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: pverburg{at}scimail.uwaterloo.ca.

Deep tropical lakes are excellent climate monitors because annual mixing is shallow and flushing rates are low so heat can accumulate during climatic warming. We describe effects of warming on Lake Tanganyika: a sharpened density gradient has slowed vertical mixing and reduced primary production. Increased warming rates during the coming century may continue to slow mixing and further reduce productivity in Lake Tanganyika and other deep tropical lakes.


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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)