Large lowland lake monitoring protocol: North Coast and Cascades Network
Fradkin SC. 2013. Large lowland lake monitoring protocol: North Coast and Cascades Network. Natural Resource Report. NPS/NCCN/NRR—2013/647. National Park Service. Fort Collins, Coloarado
Protocol and Standard Operating Procedures for monitoring large lowland lakes in the North Coast and Cascades Network. While only five in number, large lowland lakes are vital features within the national parks of the North Coast and Cascades Network (NCCN). These water bodies are vast storehouses of renewable freshwater and serve as valued centers of both ecological and recreational activity. Large lakes are model systems for tracking long-term ecological changes associated with anthropogenic influences. Long-term data collected from these systems grant valuable insights for assessing conditions and evaluating management options. Global climate change and air pollution from nearby urban areas and across the Pacific Ocean affect how these ecosystems function. Their accessibility and recreational opportunity create exposure to human impacts such as increases in nitrogen and phosphorus compounds, road and shoreline development, and fish harvests. This protocol was designed to track long-term seasonal and annual trends in key physical, chemical, and biological water quality parameters in major lake basins. Water column profiles of parameters are sampled monthly at permanent sampling stations based on GPS locations. Sampled parameters include: • Temperature, specific conductance, water clarity, lake level • Alkalinity, pH, ion concentration, dissolved oxygen concentration, dissolved organic carbon • Nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus • Zooplankton biodiversity and chlorophyll-α concentration This protocol was designed for primary implementation in Lake Crescent at Olympic National Park, with further implementation planned at other lakes within Olympic National Park and North Cascades National Park Service Complex as funding becomes favorable.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Fradkin, Steven
- Date of Issue
- 2013-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- IMDP , NRSS , OLYM
- Keywords
- Air Pollution, Alkalinity, Anion, Anthropogenic Influence, Basin, beardslee trout, Biodiversity, Cation, chlorophyll-a, clarity, Climate Change, Community, crescenti trout, Dissolved Organic Carbon, Dissolved Oxygen, fish harvest, Human Impact, LAKE, Lake Crescent, Lake Level, lake monitoring, Limnology, Management, Monitoring, monomictic, NCCN Monitoring Protocol, Nitrogen, North Coast and Cascades Network, Nutrient, Olympic National Park, pH, Phosphorus, Pygmy Whitefish, Recreation, shoreline development, specific conductance, sub-basin, Temperature, Trends, Turbidity, ultra-oligotrophic, Zooplankton
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Nutrient Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Microorganisms