Seasons and seasonality in lakes: A synthesis amid global change
Abstract Seasonality in environmental conditions plays a fundamental role in shaping lake ecosystems. However, patterns of seasonality vary worldwide, and these patterns are shifting over time amid global change. Thus, it is increasingly important to evaluate how seasons and seasonality are represented in lake ecosystem research. Here, we used a literature review and global data analysis to synthesize approaches for conceptualizing seasons and seasonality in lakes. We found that a wide range of criteria are used to delineate discrete seasons in published literature, including fixed dates (e.g., months, solstice/equinox), environmental thresholds (e.g., temperature and precipitation cutoffs), and lake‐specific indicators (e.g., ice cover, plankton phenology). Analyzing data from lakes worldwide, we found that using different criteria to define the same season resulted in divergent interpretations of ecosystem states. Based on our synthesis, we offer recommendations for how to incorporate seasonality into lake research and communications amid global change.
Authors
- Martin Schmid (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0440-9802)
- Rachel A. Hovel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3452-9485)
- Robert Schwefel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1610-4181)
- Benjamin M. Kraemer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3390-9005)
- Lesley B. Knoll (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0347-5979)
- Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4013-2281)
- Sabine Wollrab (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2430-4845)
- Whitney M. Woelmer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5147-3877)
- Isabella A. Oleksy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2572-5457)
- Arianto Budi Santoso (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5437-8306)
- Kathryn K. Hoffman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2063-8269)
- Dietmar Straile (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7441-8552)
- David C. Richardson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9374-9624)
- Elvira de Eyto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2281-2491)
- Yael Amitai (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6113-7727)
- Hans‐Peter Grossart
- Abigail S. L. Lewis
- Xinyu Sun
- Sheel Bansal
- Cayelan C. Carey
- Dexter W. Howard
- Petr Znachor
Institutions
- Uppsala University (SE)
- United States Geological Survey (US)
- SUNY New Paltz (US)
- University of Freiburg (DE)
- University of Potsdam (DE)
- Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Maine at Farmington (US)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN)
- Center for Plant Conservation (US)
- Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (DE)
- Institute of Hydrobiology, Biology Centre, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (CZ)
- Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (CN)
- Limnological Institute (RU)
- Institute of Hydrobiology (UA)
- Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IL)
- Marine Institute (IE)
- University of Waikato (NZ)
- Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (US)
- Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (CH)
- Miami University (US)
- Virginia Tech (US)
- Michigan State University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Limnology and Oceanography Letters
- Published
- 2026-03-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.70116
- Primary Topic
- Aquatic Ecosystems and Phytoplankton Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00