A Stable Isotope Approach to Understanding Contaminant Distribution in Food Webs of Stocked versus Fishless Montane Lakes
Project ID: P14AC01403
Federal Agency: National Park Service
Partner Institution: Portland State University
Fiscal Year: 2014
Initial Funding: $7,877
Total Funding: $7,877
Project Type: Research
Project Disciplines: Biological
National Park: North Cascades National Park
Principal Investigator: Strecker, Angela
Agreement Technical Representative: Rochefort, Regina
Abstract: High elevation lake ecosystems can serve as “canaries in the coal mine” to help understand the effects of anthropogenic stressors on food webs. High elevation lakes receive stress from both the atmospheric deposition of pollutants such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and stocking of invasive trout. This is a collaborative project to assess the ecological condition of North Cascades National Park’s (NOCA) high elevation lakes, the mechanisms that drive contaminant distribution in their food webs, and the associated public health risk. Lake samples will be collected and lab analyses will be conducted of the following: biomass for phytoplankton, periphyton, macroinvertebrates, and zooplankton; carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios for periphyton, macroinvertebrates, zooplankton, and fish; and PCB concentrations in macroinvertebrates, zooplankton, and fish tissue. This project will provide new and informative data for lake health enhancement and management practices, and provide valuable interpretive information that will be communicated via innovative media platforms to park visitors. Project results will be made available to the public through scientific publications, public presentations at NOCA, on various websites, and through the Science in a Minute Video developed by Portland State University.
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