Potential Influence of Climate Change on the Acid-Sensitivity of High-Elevation Lakes in the Georgia Basin, British Columbia

Table 3

Mean values of the chemical characteristics of study lakes in each of the AT (), CWH (), and MH () biogeoclimatic zones. Chemical parameters that differ significantly are indicated by bold lettering. Where differences lie is indicated by superscripts “a,” “b,” and “c” (e.g., elevation: the AT zone is significantly different than both the CWH and the MH zone; the CWH zone is significantly different than the MH zone).

Variable	Biogeoclimatic zone
	CWH	MH	AT
ANC (µeq L^−1)	40.9	54.2	46.3
(   )	3.77^a	1.23^b	0.68^b
(µeq L^−1)	7.88	9.01	9.87
Ca^2+ (µeq L^−1)	34.8	43.6	38.9
DOC (   )	2.00^b	1.17^b	0.39^a
Mg^2+ (µeq L^−1)	6.12	7.34	6.31
K^+ (µeq L^−1)	2.31	3.44	3.57
(   )	15.9^b	15.0^b	10.2^a
pH	6.07^a	6.45^b	6.46^b
Si (   )	827^b	813^b	560^a
Al (   )	110^b	53.4^b	21.8^a
Sb (µg L^−1)	0.03	0.02	0.02
Co (   )	0.04^a	0.02^b	0.01^b
Cu (   )	0.27^a	0.18^b	0.20
Mn (   )	2.57^b	1.62	1.10^a
Pb (   )	0.11^b	0.04^b	0.02^a
Mean annual air temperature ( )	6.36^b	4.37^c	2.87^a
Elevation (m)	887^b	1242^c	1514^a
Nitrogen deposition (     )	10.4^b	8.48	5.80^a
Sulphur deposition (     )	5.38^a	3.61^b	2.72^b
Precipitation (mm yr^−1)	3617	3488	3218
% Forested	56.4^b	39.3^b	0.72^a
% Ice and glacier	0.35^b	0.69^b	6.87^a
% Alpine	23.1^b	35.4^b	73.8^a