A Chemical Snapshot of Provincetown Ponds, July 2001

Dubbs, Lindsay; Novotny, Kristen

Ponds within the Cape Cod National Seashore are a unique resource for monitoring changes in water quality due to atmospheric and anthropogenic influences. Historically, the glacially formed kettle ponds in the towns of Wellfleet and Truro have been the source for long-term ecological studies (Portnoy et al. 2001). The freshwater ponds in Provincetown are less frequently monitored than the kettle ponds, but provide similarly valuable information about chemical changes in the environment. Five ponds in Provincetown were chosen for chemical analysis based on their proximity to possible anthropogenic influences and the direction of groundwater flow in relation to those influences (Lepore et al. 1990, Winkler 1990). The goal of this study was to conduct a preliminary chemical survey of Bennett, Duck, Clapps, Great and Beech Forest Parking lot ponds. This information can be used to compare the different ponds to each othe rbased on their increasing anthropogenic influences. It also provides an ecological baseline for future water quality monitoring studies of these ponds.