Paleoecological data from sediment collected in 2020 from Santa Fe Lake, New Mexico

This dataset contains carbon and nitrogen stable isotope values, percent carbon and percent nitrogen, algal pigment data, and diatom taxonomy from lake sediment layers dating back to 1749 Common Era (CE) for Santa Fe lake, New Mexico. Subalpine and alpine lakes are typically sensitive indicators of anthropogenically driven global change. Lake sediment records in the western United States have documented increases in percent carbon, percent nitrogen, and primary productivity during the 20th century. Eutrophication of mountain lakes reflects the influences of atmospheric nutrient deposition and warming. We analyzed a short (49 cm) sediment core from Santa Fe Lake, NM to investigate patterns of change in lake biogeochemistry and algal biomarkers since about 1750, asking whether this lake, which is far from direct sources of air pollution and protected from direct land use, shared the same historical responses to anthropogenic changes as lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. These data are proxies of past physical, ecological, and biogeochemical changes to a small subalpine lake, thus are useful for reconstructing change over time.