The Effect of Recent Volcanic Ash Falls on the Productivity of Two Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Lakes
Stables TB and Poe PH. 1979. The Effect of Recent Volcanic Ash Falls on the Productivity of Two Bristol Bay Sockeye Salmon Lakes. Presented at The Bristol Bay Interagency Meeting February 14-16. Seattle, WA
Past studies in Alaska and elsewhere concerning the biological impacts of volcanic ash falls on aquatic systems show that not all ash falls are equally beneficial and differences in chemical composition, solubility, absolute volume, and distribution of ash, which vary from eruption to eruption, will interact with the diverse limnological characters of affected lakes to produce a range of biological responses. Results of our limnological studies in these two lake systems indicate that ash fertilization caused an immediate low level increase in primary production in Iliamna Lake and no change in production in Becharof Lake. However, this interpretation is weakened by a host of confounding environmental factors such as yearly differences in watershed runoff, lake level, incident solar radiation, and the timing of ice formation and breakup, all of which profoundly affect production levels in these lake systems. In Iliamna Lake the situation is further complicated, since the ash fall coincided with biogenic fertilization through the salmon carcasses from the peak cycle year 1975.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Stables, T; Poe, Patrick
- Date of Issue
- 1979-02
- Publisher
- Presented at The Bristol Bay Interagency Meeting February 14-16
- Units
- LACL
- Keywords
- Aquatic Sciences, Impacts, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve AK, Lakes & Ponds, Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Volcanic Ash