Impacts, Monitoring and Trends in Streams and Lakes Karen Roy 1 , - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Impacts, Monitoring and Trends in Streams and Lakes Karen Roy 1 , Greg Lawrence 2 , and Charles Driscoll 3 1 New York State Department of Environmental Conservation 2 US Geological Survey 3 Syracuse University

Acknowledgements Adirondack Lakes Survey Corporation staff NYSERDA Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Protection program USEPA Temporally Integrated Monitoring of Ecosystems and Long Term Monitoring (TIME/LTM) programs NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (Air, FWMR, LF) Special thanks to Art Bulger (Univ.Virginia)

Outline • Streams • Trends in LTM lakes • TIME lakes • Fisheries survey results

1988 Episodic Response Project – 4 Adirondack streams Buck Creek, Bald Mountain Brook continued

Bald Mountain Brook Adirondack Region, NY 140 120 ANC G (  mol L -1 ) 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 1/1/1990 1/1/1995 1/1/2000 1/1/2005 1/1/2010

Buck Creek, Western Adirondack Region 160 140 120 ANC G (  mol L -1 ) 100 80 60 40 20 0 -20 1/1/1990 1/1/1995 1/1/2000 1/1/2005 1/1/2010

March 29-31, 2004

80 Precipitation trends 2- (ueq/L) 60 at NADP 40 Huntington Forest SO 4 20 1979-2008 1 0 35 30 - (ueq/L) 25 20 15 NO 3 10 5 0 20 + (ueq/L) 15 10 NH 4 5 0 80 60 H + (ueq/L) 40 20 0 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Time

Constable Pond 200 2- (ueq/L) 150 100 SO 4 50 120 0 - (ueq/L) 100 80 60 NO 3 40 20 1400 0 DOC (umol/L) 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 200 0 ANC (ueq/L) 150 100 50 0 -50 -100 Alim (umol/L) 15 10 5 0 1982 1984 1986 1988 1990 1992 1994 1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 Time

48 Long Term Monitoring Lakes 1992-2008 Min - Mean - Max SO4 n=47 NO3 n=19 Ca n=39 n=34 ANC ALIM n=35 HION n=28 n=46 SO4 + NO3 n=29 CB -4 -2 0 2 Change (ueq/L-yr, umol/L-yr)

48 Long Term Monitoring Lakes 1992-2008 Min - Mean - Max DOC n=22 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 Change (umol C/L-yr)

10 1993 Inorganic Monomeric Aluminum (Alim) Mean Aluminum (µmol L -1 ) 8 Organic Monomeric Aluminum (Alom) 2000 6 2008 1993 4 2000 2008 1993 1993 2000 2008 2000 2 2008 0 Thin till (n=27) Med till (n=13) Thick till/Carb (n=5) Seepage (n=7) Adirondack LTM Lake Type (n = 52)

50 1993 2000 2008 Number of Waters Sampled (n=52) 40 30 26 22 21 21 20 15 12 11 9 10 7 5 4 3 0 > 4 > 2 to 4 > 0 to 2 0 Inorganic Monomeric Aluminum (µmolL -1 )

50 1993 2000 2008 Number of Waters Sampled (n=52) 40 29 30 28 23 19 20 14 13 11 10 9 10 0 ≤ 0 > 0 and ≤ 50 > 50 ANC

EPA Regional Lake Surveys

Fish population changes (n=42) Period of All Median* Mean* Maximum* Study lakes 1984 - 141 3 3.36 10 1987 1995 - 169 4 4.02 12 2005 Change +28 +1 < 1 +2 *per lake

Fish species change between surveys by response category. Total Species Species species change change pH mean net ranges median n No fish 1984-1987 9 0 0 4.71 1994-2005 0 0 0 4.64 No change 1984-1987 7 1.71 1-4 5.06 1994-2005 1.71 0 1-4 5.29 Gain only 1984-1987 14 4.3 1-4 5.75 1994-2005 6.2 +1.9 1-4 6.07 Lost only 1984-1987 4 3.00 1-2 6.34 1994-2005 1.75 -1.25 1-2 6.26 Gain/lost 1984-1987 8 7.13 (+) 1-4 6.22 1994-2005 7.88 +0.9 (-) 1-4 6.45

Changes in Fish in Adirondack Lakes (n=42) Species Richness Median Volume ∆ Category n 1984-87 1994-2005 (10 4 m 3 ) pH 4.7 – 4.6 No fish 9 46 0 0 0 No change 7 5.1 - 5.3 100 1.7 1.7 0 Only 14 5.5 - 5.7 198 4.3 6.2 +1.9 gained Only lost 4 6.3 - 6.3 56 3.0 1.75 -1.25 Gained 8 6.2 - 6.5 350 7.1 7.9 +0.9 and lost

200 35 30 150 25 ANC (ueq/L) NO 3 (ueq/L) 100 20 15 50 10 0 5 -50 0 No Fish No Fish Only Gain Only Gain Only Lose Only Lose No Change No Change Gain & Lose Gain & Lose Fish Class Fish Class 1.6 0.6 0.4 1.4 ANC Change (ueq/L-yr) NO 3 Change (ueq/L-yr) 1.2 0.2 1.0 0.0 -0.2 0.8 -0.4 0.6 -0.6 0.4 n=9/9 n=5/7 n=11/14 n=4/8 n=1/4 -0.8 0.2 n=5/9 n=4/7 n=10/14 n=6/8 n=1/4 -1.0 0.0 Only Lose No Fish No Fish Only Gain Only Lose Only Gain No Change No Change Gain & Lose Gain & Lose Fish Class Fish Class

12 10 Alim (umol/L) 8 6 4 2 0 Only Lose No Fish Only Gain No Change Gain & Lose Fish Class 0.1 n=8/9 n=6/7 n=10/14 n=4/8 n=3/4 Alim Change (umol/L-yr) 0.0 -0.1 -0.2 -0.3 -0.4 -0.5 -0.6 Only Lose No Fish Only Gain No Change Gain & Lose Fish Class

200 150 ANC (ueq/L) 100 50 0 -50 Only Lose No Fish Only Gain No Change Gain & Lose Fish Class 1.6 1.4 ANC Change (ueq/L-yr) 1.2 1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 n=9/9 n=5/7 n=11/14 n=4/8 n=1/4 0.2 0.0 Only Lose No Fish Only Gain No Change Gain & Lose Fish Class

Populations of potential indicator minnows found in both surveys. ALS ALS ALS Sensitive Minimum Total lakes (%) This study Minnows pH of all 1469 lakes 1984 - 1987 1995 -2005 Species Common Shiner x 4.86 156 x 6 9 Pearl Dace x 5.46 58 x 1 0 Blacknose Dace x 5.59 47 x 1 4 Longnose Sucker x 5.60 9 x 1 1 Fallfish x 6.12 29 (2%) x 0 1 Finescale Dace x 6.54 2 (<1%) Fathead Minnow x 6.32 40 (3%) x 0 2 Cutlips Minnow x 6.61 11 (<1%) x 1 1 Bluntnose Minnow x 6.62 46 (3%) x 1 1 Brassy Minnow x 6.84 3 (<1%) Bridle Shiner x 6.91 3 (<1%) Mimic Shiner x 6.92 1 (<1%) Eastern Silvery Minnow x 7.08 1 (<1%) Note: Highlighted species are more pH sensitive; bold are more commonly occurring and are potential indicator species.

Fish survey findings • There are signs of response/recovery in fish species number in some ALTM lakes over the 14 year interval (1984-87 and 1994-2005); • The response is modest and mixed, and generally consistent with chemistry trends (ANC, NO 3 and Al im ); • The greatest species gains occurred in moderately sized lakes with pH 5.5 – 6.0; • Fish community sensitivity indices were created along with possible sensitive minnow indicators (fallfish, fathead minnow and bluntnose minnow); • The majority of lakes are still below critical chemistry indicators (e.g. ANC less than 50 µeq/L); • Resurveys continuing with a 3 rd round 2008-2012.

Overall streams and lakes • Stream ANC improvements (1991-2001) do not appear to be continuing at Bald Mountain Brook; • Buck Creek ANC patterns unchanged; • Western Adirondack Stream survey (2003-2005) found chemistry status critical; survey of East/Central Adirondacks to begin 2010; • Lake chemistry improvements continuing but slowing; increasing DOC; • ANC levels are decreasing in 65% of lakes, but 73% of all lakes remain below 50 µeq/L average annual. • Toxic inorganic monomeric aluminum levels are decreasing across all lake types but are still high (> 2 µmol/L) in 27% of ALTM lakes; • What will the TIME lakes chemistry show?

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