Submerged aquatic vegetation in Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe: Assessment of changes in response to increased water transparency

Abstract A high frequency echo sounding method was employed to assess the extent of SAV cover and depth of colonization in Cook's Bay, Lake Simcoe during the late summer of 2006 and 2007. Results from this study are compared to historical echo sounding surveys in Cook's Bay conducted in 1984 and 1987, prior to reductions in point source phosphorus loads to the lake and before dreissenid mussel invasion. This study revealed that the total area of inner Cook's Bay covered by SAV has increased 65% since 1987, and SAV coverage extends to depths approaching 10 m. The areal expansion of SAV and increased depth of colonization are consistent with observations of increasing water transparency documented by the Ontario Ministry of Environment since the 1980s. Tissue nutrient content (N and P) of SAV growing in Cook's Bay during 2006 was found to be significantly lower than nutrient content measured in 1984 suggesting that light availability has increased relative to nutrient availability to SAV. The results of this study support are consistent with other studies demonstrating an areal expansion and increased depth of SAV colonization in response to increased water transparency.

[1]  T. V. Madsen,et al.  Growth, photosynthesis and acclimation by two submerged macrophytes in relation to temperature , 1997, Oecologia.

[2]  W. Wilhelm,et al.  Growing degree-days: one equation, two interpretations , 1997 .

[3]  K. Nicholls,et al.  Nutrient loading to cook bay of lake Simcoe from the Holland river watershed , 1975 .

[4]  W. Guan,et al.  Mapping Submerged Aquatic Vegetation with GIS in the Caloosahatchee Estuary: Evaluation of Different Interpolation Methods , 1999 .

[5]  Neil Rooney,et al.  Inter-annual variation in submerged macrophyte community biomass and distribution: the influence of temperature and lake morphometry , 2000 .

[6]  Ray D. Valley,et al.  What does resilience of a clear-water state in lakes mean for the spatial heterogeneity of submersed macrophyte biovolume? , 2007 .

[7]  Melissa A. Haltuch,et al.  Geographic information system (GIS) analysis of ecosystem invasion: Exotic mussels in Lake Erie , 2000 .

[8]  Jennifer G. Winter,et al.  Phosphorus Inputs to Lake Simcoe from 1990 to 2003: Declines in Tributary Loads and Observations on Lake Water Quality , 2007 .

[9]  G. Heuvelink,et al.  A generic framework for spatial prediction of soil variables based on regression-kriging , 2004 .

[10]  Jay A. Austin,et al.  Lake Superior summer water temperatures are increasing more rapidly than regional air temperatures: A positive ice‐albedo feedback , 2007 .

[11]  Pierre Gagnon,et al.  Ranking the effects of site exposure, plant growth form, water depth, and transparency on aquatic plant biomass , 2000 .

[12]  Edzer J. Pebesma,et al.  Multivariable geostatistics in S: the gstat package , 2004, Comput. Geosci..

[13]  P. Chambers,et al.  Management issues in aquatic macrophyte ecology: a Canadian perspective , 1999 .

[14]  B. Moss,et al.  Prevention of growth of potentially dense phytoplankton populations by zooplankton grazing, in the presence of zooplanktivorous fish, in a shallow wetland ecosystem , 1984 .

[15]  A. Middelboe,et al.  Depth limits and minimum light requirements of freshwater macrophytes , 1997 .

[16]  J. Downing,et al.  Empirical Relationships of Phytomacrofaunal Abundance to Plant Biomass and Macrophyte Bed Characteristics , 1988 .

[17]  D. Spence,et al.  zonation of plants in freshwater lakes , 1982 .

[18]  A. E. Greenberg,et al.  Standard methods for the examination of water and wastewater : supplement to the sixteenth edition , 1988 .

[19]  Stephen R. Carpenter,et al.  Effects of submersed macrophytes on ecosystem processes , 1986 .

[20]  Noel A Cressie,et al.  Statistics for Spatial Data. , 1992 .

[21]  Patricia A. Chambers,et al.  Depth distribution and biomass of submersed aquatic macrophyte communities in relation to Secchi depth , 1985 .

[22]  P. Doering,et al.  Evaluation of a digital echo sounder system for detection of submersed aquatic vegetation , 2002 .

[23]  David O. Evans,et al.  Invasion of zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, in Lake Simcoe , 2011 .

[24]  A. Karatayev,et al.  THE EFFECTS OF DREISSENA POLYMORPHA (PALLAS) INVASION ON AQUATIC COMMUNITIES IN EASTERN EUROPE , 1997 .

[25]  Martin Søndergaard,et al.  Impact of submerged macrophytes on phytoplankton in shallow freshwater lakes , 1998 .

[26]  W. Morton,et al.  Influence of Nutrients in Water and Sediments on the Spatial Distributions of Benthos in Lake Simcoe , 2008 .

[27]  I. Muskó,et al.  The density and biomass of Dreissena polymorpha living on submerged macrophytes in Lake Balaton (Hungary) , 2005 .

[28]  Jan Köhler,et al.  Lake responses to reduced nutrient loading - an analysis of contemporary long-term data from 35 case studies , 2005 .

[29]  J. Kalff,et al.  The role of submerged macrophyte beds in phosphorus and sediment accumulation in Lake Memphremagog, Quebec, Canada , 2003 .

[30]  S. Wood,et al.  Generalized Additive Models: An Introduction with R , 2006 .

[31]  L. Rudstam,et al.  Alteration of Ecosystem Function by Zebra Mussels in Oneida Lake: Impacts on Submerged Macrophytes , 2006, Ecosystems.

[32]  Ray D. Valley,et al.  Evaluation of alternative interpolation techniques for the mapping of remotely-sensed submersed vegetation abundance , 2005 .

[33]  K. Sand‐Jensen,et al.  100 years of vegetation decline and recovery in Lake Fure, Denmark , 2008 .

[34]  G. Ksander,et al.  Emergence of vegetative propagules of Potamogeton nodosus, Potamogeton pectinatus, Vallisneria americana, and Hydrilla verticillata based on accumulated degree-days , 2000 .

[35]  Shaun A. Watmough,et al.  Recent Changes and Patterns in the Water Chemistry of Lake Simcoe , 2005 .

[36]  M. G. Johnson,et al.  Temporal and spatial trends in metal loads to sediments of Lake Simcoe, Ontario , 1988, Water, Air, and Soil Pollution.

[37]  Christine M. Mayer,et al.  Quantification of Historical Changes of Submerged Aquatic Vegetation Cover in Two Bays of Lake Ontario with Three Complementary Methods , 2007 .

[38]  B. Moore,et al.  Water Quality, Fishery, and Biologic Characteristics in a Shallow, Eutrophic Lake with Dense Macrophyte Populations , 1994 .

[39]  C. Marvin,et al.  Changes in Environmental Conditions During Dreissena Colonization of a Monitoring Station in Eastern Lake Erie , 1996 .

[40]  Martyn N. Futter,et al.  Total Phosphorus Budgets and Nitrogen Loads: Lake Simcoe, Ontario (1990 to 1998) , 2002 .

[41]  Temporal and Spatial Variability in Sediment and Phosphorus Loads to Lake Simcoe, Ontario , 1989 .

[42]  Ronald W. Griffiths,et al.  Distribution and dispersal of the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha) in the Great Lakes region , 1991 .

[43]  C. Duarte.  Nutrient concentration of aquatic plants: Patterns across species , 1992 .

[44]  I. Winfield,et al.  Assessment in two shallow lakes of a hydroacoustic system for surveying aquatic macrophytes , 2007, Hydrobiologia.

[45]  M. Scheffer,et al.  Alternative stable states. , 1998 .

[46]  J. Vermaat,et al.  Water flow across and sediment trapping in submerged macrophyte beds of contrasting growth form. , 2000 .

[47]  C. Hudon.  Impact of water level fluctuations on St. Lawrence River aquatic vegetation , 1997 .

[48]  Erik Jeppesen,et al.  The Structuring Role of Submerged Macrophytes in Lakes , 1998, Ecological Studies.

[49]  Larry B. Crowder,et al.  Habitat structural complexity and the interaction between bluegills and their prey , 1982 .

[50]  David R. Barton,et al.  Effects of water movement on the distribution of invasive dreissenid mussels in Lake Simcoe, Ontario , 2011 .

[51]  J. Barko,et al.  Effects of Submerged Aquatic Macrophytes on Nutrient Dynamics, Sedimentation, and Resuspension , 1998 .

[52]  J. Fisher,et al.  A comparison of canopy friction and sediment movement between four species of seagrass with reference to their ecology and restoration , 1986 .

[53]  Y. Allen,et al.  Historical land use, phosphorus loading, and loss of fish habitat in Lake Simcoe, Canada , 1996 .

[54]  Thomas G. Coon,et al.  Increased Abundance and Depth of Submersed Macrophytes in Response to Decreased Turbidity in Saginaw Bay, Lake Huron , 1995 .

[55]  C. Gotway,et al.  Comparison of kriging and inverse-distance methods for mapping soil parameters , 1996 .

[56]  R. Carignan,et al.  An evaluation of approaches used to determine the distribution and biomass of emergent and submerged aquatic macrophytes over large spatial scales , 2003 .

[57]  R. Peters,et al.  Patterns in Biomass and Cover of Aquatic Macrophytes in Lakes , 1986 .