Modern Limnology of the Provincelands Ponds for Comparison with Recent Changes in the Biota of Duck and Bennett Ponds Adjacent to the Provincetown Municipal Landfill Final Report
Winkler MG. 1994. Modern Limnology of the Provincelands Ponds for Comparison with Recent Changes in the Biota of Duck and Bennett Ponds Adjacent to the Provincetown Municipal Landfill Final Report. Technical Report NPS/NAROSS/NRTR-94/20. National Park Service, North Atlantic Region, Office of Scientific Studies. Boston
The modern limnology of interdunal ponds in the Provincelands of Cape Cod National Seashore has been studied by analyses of surface sediment samples taken from 15 ponds. Systematic research in the Provincelands and limnological research on interdunal ponds in North America has been rare in general. The objectives of this study were to identify and quantify the biota and chemistry in modern pond sediments from the interdunal ponds, to compare these analyses with those from two of the Provincelands ponds, DuckProv and Bennett, which were adjacent to the Provincetown Sanitary Landfill, and to determine the effect of additional environmental factors on the limnology of the ponds. To fulfill these objectives, pollen, diatoms, cladocera, and pond water and pond sediment chemistries were analyzed. See "Executive Summary" for conclusions (p. 1-4) and management recommendations (p. 4-5). A few of the major conclusions are: (1) pollen analysis reconstructs the modern vegetation of the Provincelands in some detail (pitch pine and oak are the dominant trees while the distinctive Cape Cod vegetation - Ilex, Myrica/Comptonia, Clethra, ericad, and Rosaceae pollen - is found at most sites; (2) the freshwater Provincelands ponds have a depauperate (compared to number of species found in the Outer Cape kettle ponds) acid diatom flora which indicate relatively oligotrophic conditions; (3) chemical and biological analysis of surface sediments collected in 1991 from Duck and Bennett Ponds in the Provincelands were compared to sediments collected in 1986 and show that both ponds are continuing to decline from anthropogenic impacts.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Winkler, Marjorie
- Date of Issue
- 1994-04
- Publisher
- National Park Service, North Atlantic Region, Office of Scientific Studies
- Units
- CACO
- Keywords
- Aquatic Sciences, Chemistry, Diatoms, Landfills, Limnology, Management, Plant Studies, Pollen, Pollution, Ponds, Provincelands, Sediments, Vegetation, water-fleas (order Cladocera)