Alternative Equilibria in Shallow Lakes

Scheffer, M., Hosper, S. H., Meijer, M., Moss, B., & Jeppesen, E. (1993). Alternative Equilibria in Shallow Lakes. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 5347(93), 275-279.

Type

Journal article

Intellectual base

Primary research

Year

1993

DOI

10.1016/0169-5347(93)90254-m

Link

https://doi.org/10.1016/0169-5347(93)90254-M

Cited from

biology_ecology

Cited by

2 citations across 2 artifacts.

Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.

Primes

• Eutrophication
  • The regime shift is the tip from a clear, macrophyte-dominated state to a turbid, algae-dominated one, and its hysteresis has an identified mechanism: the anoxic sediment chemically releases its stored phosphorus back into the water, internally fueling the next bloom, so cutting external loading back to the pre-bloom level no longer restores clarity — the lake is locked in.

    This sourceEstablishes the clear-water vs. turbid alternative stable states of shallow lakes, the hysteresis (internal phosphorus loading sustaining the turbid regime), and biomanipulation as a substrate-level recovery intervention.

Mechanisms

• Threshold and Hysteresis Assessment
  • The turbid state is self-stabilizing, and recovery requires driving nutrients down to a much lower level than the one that triggered the collapse.

    This sourceShows that a shallow lake can persist in a turbid alternative stable state even after substantial nutrient reduction. Illustrates hysteresis in which collapse and recovery occur at different nutrient-loading levels.

Verification

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Registry ID ref:f183825e4aa8 · see in the full table