Aquatic macrophytes in Adirondack (New York) lakes: patterns of species composition in relation to environment

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 1449-1460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen T. Jackson ◽  
Donald F. Charles
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Aquatic Vegetation ◽  
Aquatic Macrophyte ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Color Transparency ◽  
Softwater Lakes ◽  
Water Ph ◽  
Adirondack Lakes

A study of aquatic vegetation of 31 small, dilute, and unproductive lakes in the Adirondack Mountains of New York shows that macrophyte species composition is primarily related to variation in pH and associated factors. Among the lakes, surface water pH ranged from 4.5 to 7.8; conductivity ranged from 11.9 to 58.7 μS/cm. Relationships between aquatic vegetation and environmental factors were studied using detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). Submersed and floating-leaved taxa were analyzed separately from emergent taxa. Correlations between DCA axis 1 and pH-related factors (pH, alkalinity, Ca, Mg, Na, Al, conductivity, elevation) were strong for both submersed plus floating-leaved and emergent taxa. No significant correlations were found with water color, transparency, or trophic status indicators (total P and chlorophyll a). Between-lake variation in composition of aquatic vegetation in Adirondack lakes follows a pH "complex-gradient." Influences of elevation, morphometry, and substrate are secondary. Our results indicate that acidification of softwater lakes could be accompanied by significant changes in aquatic macrophyte assemblages.

When Did Acid-Sensitive Adirondack Lakes (New York, USA) Begin to Acidify and Are They Still Acidifying?

1994 ◽  
Vol 51 (7) ◽  
pp. 1550-1568 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. F. Cumming ◽  
K. A. Davey ◽  
J. P. Smol ◽  
H. J. B. Birks
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Transfer Function ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Acidic Deposition ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Scaled Chrysophytes ◽  
Sulfate Deposition ◽  
Ph Values ◽  
Water Ph ◽  
Adirondack Lakes

A transfer function was used to reconstruct pH values of 20 low-alkalinity Adirondack Park lakes based on the species composition of scaled chrysophytes (Chrysophyceae, Synurophyceae) in stratigraphie intervals from 210Pb-dated sediment cores. Approximately 80% of the lakes acidified since preindustrial times. Four categories of lake response to acidic deposition were identified: (i) lakes that showed little or no evidence of acidification since preindustrial times, (ii) lakes with preindustrial pH values between 5 and 6 that began to acidify ca. 1900, (iii) "naturally" acidic lakes that acidified even further ca. 1900, and (iv) lakes with preindustrial pH values around 6 that acidified ca. 1930–50. Lakes that acidified ca. 1900 were generally smaller, higher elevation lakes with lower preindustrial pH values than lakes in category i or iv. These patterns are consistent with the acidic deposition hypothesis of recent lake acidification. Our results indicated that "critical" sulfate deposition loads for Adirondack lakes that started to acidify ca. 1900 and ca. 1950 are between 5–10 and 20–25 kg∙ha−1∙yr−1, respectively. Post-1970 trends in lake water pH have been small and variable, suggesting that low-alkalinity Adirondack lakes have been relatively unresponsive to the post-1970 declines in sulfate deposition.

Mallomonadacean (Chrysophyceae) assemblages and their relationships with limnological characteristics in 38 Adirondack (New York) lakes

1984 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 911-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P. Smol ◽  
Donald F. Charles ◽  
Donald R. Whitehead
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Environmental Gradients ◽  
Reciprocal Averaging ◽  
Surficial Sediments ◽  
Secchi Disc ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Characteristics Analysis ◽  
Adirondack Lakes ◽  
Acidic Waters ◽  
Total P

The siliceous scales of 30 mallomonadacean taxa were identified and counted from the surficial sediments of 38 Adirondack lakes. The scales were usually abundant and were always well preserved. The Adirondack flora is typical of acidic to circumneutral oligotrophic lakes. Common taxa include Mallomonas acaroides, M. caudata, M. crassisquama, M. hamata, M. pseudocoronata, M. punctifera, Synura echinulata, S. petersenii, S. sphagnicola, S. spinosa, and Chrysosphaerella longispina. The abundance of certain species (e.g., Mallomonas hindonii, M. hamata) appears to be a reliable indication of acidic waters. Reciprocal averaging (RA) ordination was used to determine if distribution of the mallomonadacean assemblages corresponded with major environmental gradients. Correlations between the first RA axis scores and lakewater pH (r2 = 0.63) and related factors (log10 alkalinity, r2 = 0.66; pCa, r2 = 0.39; pMg, r2 = 0.43) were strongest. Relationships were weaker with average depth, summer epilimnion temperature, elevation, NO3, and total Al, and were not statistically significant with conductivity, color, Secchi disc transparency, total P, chlorophyll a, SO4, and Si. Cluster analysis grouped both lakes and taxa into categories best explained by their pH-related characteristics. Analysis of surficial sediment from lakes with known limnological characteristics is a useful approach for the study of the ecology and taxonomy of the Mallomonadaceae. Our data demonstrate that mallomonadacean distributions reflect lake conditions and, therefore, are potentially useful indicators in limnological and paleolimnological studies.

How Much Acidification Has Occurred in Adirondack Region Lakes (New York, USA) since Preindustrial Times?

1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. F. Cumming ◽  
J. P. Smol ◽  
J. C. Kingston ◽  
D. F. Charles ◽  
H. J. B. Birks ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Lake Water ◽  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Target Population ◽  
Acid Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Lake Water Chemistry ◽  
Neutralizing Capacity ◽  
Average Rainfall ◽  
Water Ph ◽  
Adirondack Lakes

Preindustrial and present-day lake water pH, acid neutralizing capacity (ANC), total monomeric aluminum (Alm), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) were inferred from the species composition of diatom and chrysophyte microfossils in the tops (present-day inferences) and bottoms (pre-1850 inferences) of sediment cores collected from a statistically selected set of Adirondack lakes. Results from the study lakes were extrapolated to a predefined target population of 675 low-alkalinity Adirondack region lakes. Estimates of preindustrial to present-day changes in lake water chemistry show that approximately 25–35% of the target population has acidified. The magnitude of acidification was greatest in the low-alkalinity lakes of the southwestern Adirondacks, an area with little geological ability to neutralize acidic deposition and receives the highest annual average rainfall in the region. We estimate that ~80% of the target population lakes with present-day measured pH [Formula: see text] and 30–45% of lakes with pH between 5.2 and 6.0 have undergone large declines in pH and ANC, and concomitant increases in [Alm]. Estimated changes in [DOC] were small and show no consistent pattern in the acidified lakes. This study provides the first statistically based regional evaluation of the extent of lake acidification in the Adirondacks.

The recovery and dynamics of submerged aquatic macrophyte vegeta­tion in the Wilderness lakes, southern Cape

Bothalia ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 283-288 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Weisser ◽  
A. K. Whitfield ◽  
C. M. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Species Composition ◽  
Seasonal Changes ◽  
Aquatic Macrophyte ◽  
Plant Biomass ◽  
Plant Populations

Between 1979 and 1981, the submerged aquatic macrophyte vegetation in the Wilderness lakes died back significantly, and in some areas disappeared altogether. This study documents the senescent phase and describes the recovery of the plant populations between May 1982 and May 1983. In two lakes, namely Langvlei and Eilandvlei, the plant biomass approximately doubled between the winters of 1982 and 1983. Seasonal changes in species composition are documented and possible factors accounting for the collapse and recovery of the plant populations are discussed.

Distribution of scaled chrysophytes in 17 Adirondack (New York) lakes with special reference to pH

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (7) ◽  
pp. 1391-1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter A. Siver
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Special Reference ◽  
Surface Sediments ◽  
Species Distributions ◽  
Franklin County ◽  
Scaled Chrysophytes ◽  
Bog Lakes ◽  
Adirondack Lakes ◽  
The Common ◽  
Similarities And Differences

Thirty-four scaled chrysophyte taxa are described from 17 Adirondack lakes located in either Hamilton or Franklin counties. Ten taxa, Synura sphagnicola, Syn. echinulata, Syn. petersenii, Mallomonas acaroides var. muskokana, M. hamata, M. caudata, M. crassisquama, M. galeiformis, Spiniferomonas trioralis, and Chrysosphaerella longispina, were found in more than 40% of the study lakes. Mallomonas acaroides var. muskokana, M. hamata, Syn. sphagnicola, Syn. echinulata, and Spiniferomonas coronacircumspina were common and important components of the phytoplankton floras in lakes with a pH < 5.4; however, M. hamata and Sp. coronacircumspina were noticeably absent from bog lakes. Synura sphagnicola and Syn. echinulata were as common in samples with a pH between 5.4 and 7 as they were below pH 5.4. Mallomonas crassisquama, M. caudata, M. pseudocoronata, and Synura spinosa were found in a significantly greater percentage of samples from circumneutral lakes and were lacking from waters with a pH < 5.4. Differences in species distributions between Hamilton County (higher mean pH) and Franklin County lakes further supported the observed pH ranges of the common taxa. Similarities and differences are made with a study of Smol et al. (Can. J. Bot. 62: 911–923), who described the distribution of scaled chrysophytes from the surface sediments of Adirondack lakes.

Visualizing Plant Community Change Using Historical Records

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyn Brister ◽  
Elizabeth Hane ◽  
Karl Korfmacher
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Land Use ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Community Change ◽  
Ecological Data ◽  
Pests And Diseases ◽  
Temporal And Spatial Variability ◽  
Tree Data ◽  
Wetlands Inventory ◽  
Gis Software

Ecological data from land surveys from 1811 for the 100,000-acre Connecticut Tract in western New York were transcribed and then analyzed using ArcGIS and IDRISI GIS software. The surveys contained both witness tree data and line descriptions, which were analyzed for species composition and community type. Results illustrate that many changes have occurred in species composition. Possible causes of these changes to the mature forests may include introduced pests and diseases or anthropogenic land-use change. Comparisons to the National Wetlands Inventory Database reveal that while some of the wetlands that were present in 1811 still exist today, particularly in the Byron-Bergen Swamp and in the wetlands along the Lake Ontario shoreline, other original wetlands have been lost while new wetlands have replaced some upland forests. This study helps elucidate past causes of temporal and spatial variability, and it provides a reference point for land managers who need to understand the effects of land-use history for ongoing restoration efforts.

Transmission of light through ice and snow of Adirondack lakes, New York

1984 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenton M. Stewart ◽  
Bruce E. Brockett
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Adirondack Lakes

Common loon reproduction and chick feeding on acidified lakes in the Adirondack Park, New York

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 804-810 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karl E. Parker
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Resource Depletion ◽  
Low Ph ◽  
Lake Acidification ◽  
Common Loon ◽  
Feeding Problems ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Lake Acidity ◽  
Adirondack Lakes

The effects of lake acidification on common loon reproduction were studied on a total of 24 Adirondack lakes from May through August in 1983 and 1984. The lakes ranged in size from 10.5 to 179 ha; pH ranged from 4.65 to 6.77 and alkalinity from −66 to 111 μequiv./L. Although loons nesting on small, low-pH lakes had a high fledging rate, possibly because of reduced disturbance or predation, no significant relationship (P > 0.10) was found between lake acidity status and loon reproductive success. No chick mortality could be attributed to lake acidification, but chicks on low-pH lakes were generally fed prey much smaller or much larger than those normally preferred. A pair nesting on a fishless lake fed aquatic insects to their constantly begging chick, spending two to four times longer feeding the chick compared with loons on lakes with fish. This pair, alternating absences, flew to another lake to feed, and on three occasions returned to the nesting lake carrying a fish. Loons on the low-pH study lakes apparently adapted, at least in the short term, to food resource depletion associated with acidification. Despite this, acidification creates potentially severe feeding problems for chicks by reducing prey diversity and quantity.

Multiple paleoecological controls on the composition of marine fossil assemblages from the Frasnian (Late Devonian) of Virginia, with a comparison of ordination methods

Paleobiology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Bush ◽  
Roderic I. Brame
Keyword(s):  
Grain Size ◽  
Species Composition ◽  
Simulated Data ◽  
Ecological Factors ◽  
Detrended Correspondence Analysis ◽  
Late Devonian ◽  
Opportunistic Species ◽  
Disturbance Intensity ◽  
Fossil Assemblages ◽  
Highly Correlated

Ecological ordination can reveal gradients in the species composition of fossil assemblages that can be correlated with paleoenvironmental gradients. Ordinations of simulated data sets suggest that nonmetric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) generally produces less distorted results than detrended correspondence analysis (DCA). We ordinated 113 brachiopod-dominated samples from the Frasnian (Late Devonian) Brallier, Scherr, and lower Foreknobs Formations of southwest Virginia, which represent a range of siliciclastic marine paleoenvironments. A clear environmental signal in the ordination results was obscured by (apparently) opportunistic species that occurred at high abundance in multiple environments; samples dominated by these species aggregated in ordination space regardless of paleoenvironmental provenance. After the opportunist-dominated samples were removed, NMDS revealed a gradient in species composition that was highly correlated with substrate (grain size); a second, orthogonal gradient likely reflects variation in disturbance intensity or frequency within grain-size regimes. Additional environmental or ecological factors, such as oxygenation, may also be related to the gradients. These two gradients, plus the environmental factors that controlled the occurrence of opportunistic species, explain much of the variation in assemblage composition in the fauna. In general, the composition of fossil assemblages is probably influenced by multiple paleoecological and paleoenvironmental factors, but many of these can be decomposed and analyzed.

Balancing “Fidelity” and Community Context in the Adaptation of Asthma Evidence-Based Interventions in the “Real World”

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (6_suppl_1) ◽  
pp. 63S-72S ◽  
Author(s):  
Marielena Lara ◽  
Tyra Bryant-Stephens ◽  
Maureen Damitz ◽  
Sally Findley ◽  
Jesús González Gavillán ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Childhood Asthma ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Community Context ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Asthma Outcomes

The Merck Childhood Asthma Network (MCAN) initiative selected five sites (New York City, Puerto Rico, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia) to engage in translational research to adapt evidence-based interventions (EBIs) to improve childhood asthma outcomes. The authors summarize the sites’ experience by describing criteria defining the fidelity of translation, community contextual factors serving as barriers or enablers to fidelity, types of adaptation conducted, and strategies used to balance contextual factors and fidelity in developing a “best fit” for EBIs in the community. A conceptual model captures important structural and process-related factors and helps frame lessons learned. Site implementers and intervention developers reached consensus on qualitative rankings of the levels of fidelity of implementation for each of the EBI core components: low fidelity, adaptation (major vs. minor), or high fidelity. MCAN sites were successful in adapting core EBI components based on their understanding of structural and other contextual barriers and enhancers in their communities. Although the sites varied regarding both the EBI components they implemented and their respective levels of fidelity, all sites observed improvement in asthma outcomes. Our collective experiences of adapting and implementing asthma EBIs highlight many of the factors affecting translation of evidenced-based approaches to chronic disease management in real community settings.

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