Declining calcium concentration drives shifts toward smaller and less nutritious zooplankton in northern lakes

Zooplankton community composition of northern lakes is changing due to the interactive effects of climate change and recovery from acidification, yet limited data are available to assess these changes combined. Here, we built a database using archives of temperature, water chemistry and zooplankton data from 60 Scandinavian lakes that represent broad spatial and temporal gradients in key parameters: temperature, calcium (Ca), total phosphorus (TP), total organic carbon (TOC), and pH. Using machine learning techniques, we found that Ca was the most important determinant of the relative abundance of all zooplankton groups studied, while pH was second, and TOC third in importance. Further, we found that Ca is declining in almost all lakes, and we detected a critical Ca threshold in lake water of 1.3 mg L−1, below which the relative abundance of zooplankton shifts toward dominance of Holopedium gibberum and small cladocerans at the expense of Daphnia and copepods. Our findings suggest that low Ca concentrations may shape zooplankton communities, and that current trajectories of Ca decline could promote widespread changes in pelagic food webs as zooplankton are important trophic links from phytoplankton to fish and different zooplankton species play different roles in this context. Among five environmental variables tested, we found that low lake calcium (Ca) concentrations shape most zooplankton communities in northern lakes. When lake water Ca falls below a threshold of 1.3 mg L−1, the relative abundance of zooplankton shifts toward dominance of Holopedium and small cladocerans at the expense of Daphnia and cyclopoid and calanoid copepods. The current trajectory of Ca declines found in northern lakes implies community shifts toward dominance of smaller and less nutritious zooplankton. Ca declines potentially have strong repercussions for lake food webs and productivity as zooplankton are important trophic links from phytoplankton to fish.