Shallow Lake Monitoring in the Arctic and Central Alaska Networks of National Parklands.
Larsen A. Shallow Lake Monitoring in the Arctic and Central Alaska Networks of National Parklands.. 2004. National Park Service
Shallow lakes and ponds represent a significant proportion of the non-flowing waterbodies in CAKN parks, and they are a dominant feature of vast wetland and river bottom acreages in these parks. They provide important habitats for wetland plants, wildlife, and fish. The Arctic and Central Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Networks have adopted a holistic view of ecosystems and will track the major physical drivers of ecosystem change and responses of the two major components of the biota: plants and animals. For any ecosystem, the abundance and distribution of water is probably one of the strongest driving forces of ecological change. In this context, the networks have decided to approach monitoring water quality by focusing not just on the chemical nature of the water, but on the abundance and distribution of water in the landscape. Shallow lakes support abundant growth of lake-bottom and lake-edge plants. The high rates of primary production and the structure and nutrients provided by lake-edge plants provide habitat for macroinvertebrates, and rearing areas for waterfowl, shorebirds and fishes. Thus, the networks are interested in the biota living in, near and dependent on water-dominated parts of the landscape. The hydrological cycle in the region involves seasonal snow cover and permafrost, which interact with topography and geology to create vast wetlands characterized by the presence of shallow lake and pond systems. Over the past 20 years much concern has been raised regarding the drying of the shallow lake systems in CAKN parks because they often provide critical wildlife habitat. The natural processes of formation and filling of shallow lake systems is closely tied to permafrost dynamics and extensive permafrost degradation associated with anthropogenic climate change has been documented in Western Canada, Russia, China, Mongolia and interior Alaska. Anthropogenic global climate change and the subsequent effects on fire frequency and intensity as well as potential changes in the distribution of permafrost and hydrologic regime may lead to more rapid changes in the size, abundance or distribution of aquatic resources on the landscape. Objectives: Detect decadal-scale trends across CAKN parks in: 1.The size, distribution, and number of shallow lakes and ponds. 2. The water quality (chemistry) of shallow lakes and ponds. This objective includes monitoring four core variables as directed by the NPS Water Resources Division, including including temperature, turbidity, pH and dissolved oxygen. 3. The structure and composition of vegetation in shallow lake and pond margins. 4. Species richness and abundance of macroinvertebrate taxa in shallow lake and pond ecosystems.
- Type
- Project
- Authors
- Larsen, Amy
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- ARCN , BELA , CAKN , CAKR , DENA , GAAR , KOVA , NOAT , WRST , YUCH
- Keywords
- aquatic, chemistry, dissolved oxygen, macroinvertebrate, nutrient, pH, plants, pond, primary production, shallow lakes, Species richness, temperature, turbidity, water, water quality, wetland
- Subjects
- Ecological Framework: Geology and Soils | Geomorphology | Lake Features and Processes , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Water Chemistry , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Nutrient Dynamics , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Microorganisms , Ecological Framework: Water | Water Quality | Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Algae , Ecological Framework: Biological Integrity | Focal Species or Communities | Freshwater Communities
Program
- Arctic Inventory and Monitoring Network (ARCN)
- Central Alaska Inventory and Monitoring Network (CAKN)
Products
- Surface water area in a changing climate: Differential responses of Alaska’s subarctic lakes
- Shallow Lakes Resource Brief for the Arctic Network
- Monitoring the phenology of the wood frog breeding season using bioacoustic methods
- Physical and chemical characteristics of lakes across heterogeneous landscapes in arctic and subarctic Alaska
- Denali's disappearing lakes - shallow lake monitoring in the Central Alaska Network: Denali
- The art of monitoring wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) in CAKN
- Alaska Shallow Lake Monitoring Program: Limnology of Denali National Park and Preserve
- Shallow Lake Limnology Monitoring Protocol: Central Alaska Network (CAKN) and Arctic Network (ARCN) Version 2.0
- Alaska shallow lake monitoring program: 2009 annual report
- Understanding lake drainage in northern Alaskan national parks: Impacts of a warming climate
- Annual report on vital signs monitoring of shallow lakes in Denali National Park & Preserve
- Annual Report On Vital Signs Monitoring Of Shallow Lakes In Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve
- Shallow Lakes Resource Brief
- Cascading effects of climate change and wildfire on a subarctic lake: A 20-year case study of watershed change
- An Exploratory Analysis of Trends in Shallow Lakes Water Chemistry Time Series Data from Arctic Network and Central Alaska Network Parks
- Andrew Flat Permafrost Long-term Monitoring and Thaw Lake Assessment, Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve, Alaska, 2012
- Elodea: Alaska's first invasive aquatic plant continues to march across the state
- Multi-temporal image analysis of historical aerial photographs and recent satellite imagery reveals evolution of water body surface area and polygonal terrain morphology in Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska
- Shallow Lake Limnology Monitoring Protocol: Central Alaska Network National Park and Preserves, Alaska
- First pan-Arctic assessment of dissolved organic carbon in lakes of the permafrost region
- How Wildlife are Responding to a Warming Climate
- Lake temperature and ice cover regimes in the Alaskan Subarctic and Arctic: integrated monitoring, remote sensing, and modeling
- Shallow Lakes – Microcosms of Change
- Winterkill of Alaska blackfish (Dallia pectoralis) in methane discharging lakes of Denali National Park’s Minchumina lake basin
- The Influence of Catchment Characteristics and Water Chemistry on Invertebrate Community Composition in Ponds and Lakes in Subarctic Alaska
- Physical and chemical characteristics of lakes across heterogeneous landscapes in arctic and subarctic Alaska