Quantifying lake metabolism and carbon burial in an agricultural, drought-prone sub-Arctic landscape

South Greenland is a lake-rich region that is home to the first known example of agriculture in the Arctic, where lakes provide critical resources for sheep farming operations. As the Arctic experiences unprecedented warming, both subsistence and commercial agricultural operations are expected to increase, but it is unclear how the interaction of climate change and managed landscapes impact lake ecosystems and carbon cycling. This project addresses this critical gap in knowledge at multiple timescales. To understand lake conditions before the influence of present-day agricultural operations, the researchers will use paleolimnological techniques to reconstruct carbon burial, nutrient concentrations, and lake level over the past 200 years. To quantify how present-day weather patterns influence carbon cycling, the researchers will use year-round, automated sensors to track lake level and lake metabolism. Together, these results will provide a robust framework for understanding the interactive effect of climate and agriculture on Arctic lakes, which fills critical gaps in scientific knowledge and is important for communities that rely on lakes for farming operations.