Grantee Research Project Results
1999 Progress Report: Regional Analysis of Variation in Adirondack Lake Ecosystems: Landscape Scale Determinations of Dissolved Organic Carbon
EPA Grant Number: R826762Title: Regional Analysis of Variation in Adirondack Lake Ecosystems: Landscape Scale Determinations of Dissolved Organic Carbon
Investigators: Pace, Michael L. , Canham, Charles D.
Institution: Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2001 (Extended to December 31, 2002)
Project Period Covered by this Report: January 1, 1999 through December 31, 2000
Project Amount: $453,775
RFA: Regional Scale Analysis and Assessment (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Aquatic Ecosystems , Ecological Indicators/Assessment/Restoration
Objective:
The objectives of this research project are to: (1) develop a regional scale modeling approach to predict variation in lake ecosystem properties as a function of landscape characteristics; (2) analyze landscape and within lake processes that determine variation in lake dissolved organic carbon (DOC); and (3) analyze temporal trends in lake DOC related to landscape and lake processes.
Progress Summary:
During the first year of the project, we assembled the necessary data layers with the help of our collaborators at the Adirondack Park Agency. A principal task was to delineate the watersheds for the Oswegatchie-Black River drainage (= western section) of the Adirondack Park. The delineation was accomplished using a new digital elevation map (10 m resolution) and criteria suitable for our analysis of lake inputs and outputs. This delineation process was intensively evaluated to develop a rigorous approach to regional mapping of watersheds. In landscapes with a mixture and steeped-sided uplands and large, hydrologically complex wetlands, a tool for watershed delineation that is repeatable and objective is a significant accomplishment.
We now have completed the assembly and watershed delineation of the lake watersheds in the Oswegatchie/Black (OB) drainage of the Adirondack Park. We have water chemistry and complimentary watershed data for 454 lakes in the OB region. This data set is a representative sample of the larger number of lakes in the region. Specific data sets available in GIS format are extensive. We have assembled the data layers to allow visualization of the contours from a new digital elevation map (10 m resolution), all standing water bodies, uplands in five categories of land use, wetlands in eight categories derived from an extensive American Planning Association (APA) classification of wetland type, the areal extent of wetlands that fringe lakes at 50 m, 100 m, and 200 m intervals, streams, watershed boundaries, the sample lakes, and roads. We have assembled, from earlier water quality studies conducted by the Adirondack Lake Survey, a complete chemistry data set for the study lakes, and using GIS analysis added a series of watershed statistics to this data set (e.g., watershed area, wetland area, slope, forest cover area, and type).
Future Activities:
We will initiate two analytical projects this year. The first is a multivariate statistical analysis of watershed and lake characteristics with a goal of empirically evaluating controls on the variation in DOC observed among lakes at a regional scale. The second analysis is the development of a maximum likelihood mass balance model for lake DOC. This model will describe the inputs, outputs, and within-system processing of DOC in lakes. A key feature of this model is the spatial analysis of inputs of DOC along flow paths to a lake from various landscape source areas. We have developed flowpath data sets in our initial GIS analysis of the OB watersheds to parameterize these input functions. We will use a simulated annealing algorithm to iteratively solve the basic model equation describing inputs, processing, and outputs. This approach will solve simultaneously for the parameter values that maximize the likelihood of the data set where mean lake DOC is predicted.
In addition to the analyses planned above, we will process a new set of data on a separate portion of the Adirondack Park (the upper Hudson drainage) that has become available since the initiation of our projection. This data set will allow us to add an additional 100+ lakes and their watersheds. For the Upper Hudson drainage, we will follow the same watershed delineation approach established for the OB drainage.
Finally, we will initiate field studies this coming summer to resurvey some of the lakes in the OB drainage and initiate process-oriented studies to measure chemical and biological controls on the degradation of DOC.
Journal Articles:
No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 16 publications for this projectSupplemental Keywords:
ecological effects, aquatic, terrestrial, land water interactions, limnology, dissolved organic carbon, likelihood analysis, Adirondack Park, DOC, GIS., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, Hydrology, Water & Watershed, State, Regional/Scaling, Ecological Risk Assessment, Ecology and Ecosystems, Watersheds, aquatic, carbon allocation, landscape scale determinations, model ecosystem effects, regional analysis, ecosystem assessment, modeling, temporal scale, ecological variation, dissolved organic carbon, regional scale impacts, aquatic ecosystems, water quality, GIS, water management options, Adirondack Lake, integrated ecological assessment, remote sensing imagery, wetland, land useRelevant Websites:
http://www.ecostudies.org
http://www.northeastnet.org/adirondackparkagency/gis/index.html
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.