Jay A. Bloomfield

Planktonic rotifer community structure in Adirondack, New York, U.S.A. lakes in relation to acidity, trophic status and related water quality characteristics

AbstractThe structure of the mid-summer planktonic rotifer communities of 101 Adirondack lakes ranging in pH from 4.0 to 7.3 were characterized in relation to acidity and selected water quality parameters. More than 70 rotifer species were identified from collections in 1982 and 1984. None of the species collected could be considered acidobiontic or alkalibiontic. Keratella taurocephala was the most commonly collected rotifer, occurring in 94 of the study lakes. It was abundant throughout the range of pH investigated but was particularly dominant in acidic waters, averaging > 85 % of the rotifers collected from waters of pH < 5.0.Rotifer community structure can be related to three groups of water quality parameters. Community parameters (richness and diversity) are most highly correlated with parameters indicative of acidity status. Rotifer abundance correlates with trophic state indicators, i.e. chlorophyll a and total phosphorus, over the full range of pH investigated. However, in acidic lakes, rotifer abundance is related to true color and DOC, indicators of humic influences.The rotifer communities of the Adirondacks can be classified into four broad types: 1) A diverse, productive community of the more alkaline lakes, generally with ∼ 13 species, and dominated by Conochilus unicornis, Kellicottia bostoniensis, Kellicottia longispina, and Polyarthra major; 2) Relatively diverse communities of productive, highly colored acid lakes, with ∼ 8 species, and often with very large populations (> 200 · 1−1) dominated by K. bostoniensis and K. taurocephala; 3) Depauperate (< 4 species) communities of clear water acid lakes with generally low density populations dominated by K. taurocephala (> 90 % of rotifers in each sample); and 4) Extremely depauperate (2–3 species) acid lake communities associated with small lakes with high flushing rates dominated by C. unicornis.

The Aquatic Macrophyte Community of Onondaga Lake: Field Survey and Plant Growth Bioassays of Lake Sediments

ABSTRACT Onondaga Lake, located in the Syracuse metropolitan area of upstate New York, has been heavily impacted by domestic and industrial waste effluents, resulting in a lake with high salinity, low light availability, and a highly calcareous, nutrient-poor sediment. These factors appear interrelated in reducing the cover, distribution and diversity of aquatic plants between 1940 and 1990. A quantitative survey in 1991 found that only 13% of the littoral zone had any aquatic plants. The plant community was dominated by Potamogeton pectinatus (11%), with four other submersed aquatic plants found: Ceratophyllum demersum, Heteranihera dubia, Myriophyllum spicatum, and Potamogeton crispus. Aquatic plants were found less often than expected on the calcium-carbonate oncolite sediments, which are formed from precipitated calcium carbonate, compared to other sediment types in the lake. Laboratory studies were developed to evaluate the role of sediments in limiting plant growth. These studies showed that Onondag...

Acidity status and phytoplankton species richness, standing crop, and community composition in Adirondack, New York, U.S.A. lakes

The mid-summer phytoplankton communities of more than 100 Adirondack lakes ranging in pH from 4.0 to 7.2 were characterized in relation to 25 physical-chemical parameters. Phytoplankton species richness declined significantly with increasing acidity. Acidic lakes (pH < 5.0) averaged fewer than 20 species while more circumneutral waters (pH > 6.5) averaged more than 33 species. Phytoplankton abundance was not significantly correlated with any of the measured physical-chemical parameters, but standing crop parameters, i.e., chlorophyll a and phytoplankton biovolume, did correlate significantly with several parameters. Midsummer standing crop correlated best with total phosphorus concentration but acidity status affected the standing crop-phosphorus relationship. Circumneutral waters of low phosphorus content, i.e. < 10 µg·1−1 TP, averaged 3.62 µg·1−1 chlorophyll a whereas acidic lakes of the same phosphorus content averaged only 1.96 µg·1−1 chlorophyll a. The midsummer chlorophyll content of lakes of high phosphorus content, i.e. > 10 µg·1−1 TP, was not significantly affected by acidity status.Adirondack phytoplankton community composition changes with increasing acidity. The numbers of species in midsummer collections within all major taxonomic groups of algae are reduced with increasing acidity. The midsummer phytoplankton communities of acidic Adirondack lakes can generally be characterized into four broad types; 1) the depauperate clear water acid lake assemblage dominated by dinoflagellates, 2) the more diverse oligotrophic acid lake community dominated by cryptomonads, green algae, and chrysophytes, 3) the productive acid lake assemblage dominated by green algae, and 4) the chrysophyte dominated community. The major phytoplankton community types of acid lakes are associated with different levels of nutrients, aluminum concentrations, and humic influences.

Allochthonous Contributions of THM Precursors to a Eutrophic Reservoir

ABSTRACT Temporal patterns in trihalomethane (THM) precursor concentrations (measured as THM formation potential, THMFP) and loads are documented for West Branch Delaware River (WBDR), the primary tributary for Cannonsville Reservoir, NY, and a secondary tributary, for a 12-month period. The analysis was supported by routine and runoff event-based (11 events) sampling at the mouth of WBDR, and 3 synoptic surveys along its length. Ninety-eight percent of the precursors from WBDR formed chloroform, and 94% were in a dissolved form (DTHMFP). Temporal variations on a seasonal scale, as well as during runoff events, are reported. The range in DTHMFP was 151 to 325μg · L−1. Increases in precursor concentration observed (from 140 to 240 μg · L−1) moving from upstream toward the mouth of WBDR may reflect anthropogenic contributions. A time series of daily loads of DTHMFP from WBDR to die reservoir is presented for the April-December interval of 1995. The volume-weighted concentration for this period was 228 μg · ...

Aquatic Vegetation Quantification Symposium: An Overview

ABSTRACT A symposium was held at the 10th annual meeting of the North American Lake Management Society to discuss methods of aquatic vegetation quantification and its application to an aquatic plant management program. Topics discussed at this symposium included the importance of accurate taxonomic identifications, the use of transect and biomass sampling methods, development of manipulative experiments to evaluate management techniques, and advances in remote sensing for aquatic plant quantification. These technical approaches were then illustrated in an ongoing governmental aquatic plant management program. Techniques used for aquatic plant quantification and the importance of vegetation quantification to an ongoing management program are summarized.

Brooktrout Lake case study: biotic recovery from acid deposition 20 years after the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.

The Adirondack Mountain region is an extensive geographic area (26,305 km(2)) in upstate New York where acid deposition has negatively affected water resources for decades and caused the extirpation of local fish populations. The water quality decline and loss of an established brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis [Mitchill]) population in Brooktrout Lake were reconstructed from historical information dating back to the late 1880s. Water quality and biotic recovery were documented in Brooktrout Lake in response to reductions of S deposition during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s and provided a unique scientific opportunity to re-introduce fish in 2005 and examine their critical role in the recovery of food webs affected by acid deposition. Using C and N isotope analysis of fish collagen and state hatchery feed as well as Bayesian assignment tests of microsatellite genotypes, we document in situ brook trout reproduction, which is the initial phase in the restoration of a preacidification food web structure in Brooktrout Lake. Combined with sulfur dioxide emissions reductions promulgated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, our results suggest that other acid-affected Adirondack waters could benefit from careful fish re-introduction protocols to initiate the ecosystem reconstruction of important components of food web dimensionality and functionality.

The Effect of Terrigenous Inputs on Spatial Patterns of Water Quality Indicators in South Lake, Lake Champlain

Spatial patterns of measures of trophic state, optical properties and particle composition are documented for Lake Champlain, with particular emphasis on the southernmost shallow section (< 10 m deep, ∼ 55 km in length) known as South Lake, to depict the impacts of terrigenous inputs. The analysis is supported by two surveys conducted in 1998 for South Lake (thirteen sites) following typical and unusually high runoff intervals, and for selected deep-water sites (thirteen) for the typical runoff interval. Terrigenous inputs, particularly as clays, cause light penetration to be lower, turbidity (Tn) and phosphorus (P) concentrations to be higher by a wide margin, and particle composition to differ greatly in South Lake relative to deeper portions of the lake. Generally progressive gradients are documented within South Lake for Secchi disc transparency (SD), the light attenuation coefficient, (Tn), particulate organic carbon, total P, and particulate P, that demonstrate diminishing impacts of the terrigenous inputs with the approach to the deeper portions of the lake. Increased loadings associated with high runoff impart greater, and a wider array of, impacts in South Lake, that appear to be relatively shortlived (less than 1 month). The high levels of inanimate particles (tripton) that prevail in South Lake systematically compromise total P concentration and SD as measures of trophic state. Despite lower levels, this terrigenous material also influences these measures in deep-water areas. Management strategies that focus on reductions in P loading will not result in substantive increases in SD in South Lake, as phytoplankton biomass is unimportant in regulating the prevailing clarity conditions. Erosion control may be a more promising alternative to pursue improved clarity in this portion of the lake.

A Modeling Analysis of THM Precursors for a Eutrophic Reservoir

ABSTRACT Mass balance modeling analyses were conducted for trihalomethane (THM) precursors in eutrophic Cannonsville Reservoir to resolve the contributions of allochthonous and autochthonous inputs to the reservoirs precursor pool, and to move toward a predictive tool that would support related managementactions. The analyses focus on the April-November interval of 1995, and are supported by detailed external loading (Stepczuk et al. 1998a) and reservoir water column (Stepczuk et al. 1998b) data for precursors. Net autochthonous production of precursors in the epilimnion, apparently driven by primary productivity, was a major source of precursors for the reservoir, representing about two-thirds of the cumulative mass input over the April-mid-summer interval. An undefined loss process(es) operated simultaneously during the study period. Major differences in behavior of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and THM precursor pools of the reservoir, depicted by the modeling analysis, are not supportive of the ...

Atmospheric and Watershed Inputs of Mercury to Cranberry Lake, St. Lawrence County, New York

Cranberry Lake is a large (28.2 km2) reservoir located in the northwestern Adirondack Mountains in New York State. The area surrounding the lake is primarily wilderness with no major industry. In 1969, fish collected from Cranberry Lake and nearby Stillwater Reservoir as part of a Statewide sample collection program yielded anomalously elevated mercury levels when compared to similar sized and aged fish of the same species from other lakes in the State. This paper documents studies conducted by New York State over the last ten years concerning the Cranberry Lake situation.

ACIDIFICATION, VERTEBRATE AND INVERTEBRATE PREDATORS, AND THE STRUCTURE OF ZOOPLANKTON COMMUNITIES IN ADIRONDACK LAKES

ABSTRACT Midsummer zooplankton community structures of 50 Adirondack lakes were evaluated in relation to dominant vertebrate and invertebrate predators and selected limnological parameters. The most important factors structuring zooplankton grazer communities were extracted in a principal components analysis. The interaction of acidity status and vertebrate planktivore abundance explains the variation in lake scores for the first principal component. The second principal component was related to predation, while the third was related to lake trophic status and humic influence. The interaction of water quality and predator abundance structures grazer communities of Adirondack lakes.