Changes in the Fish Community of a Limed Lake Near Sudbury, Ontario: Effects of Chemical Neutralization or Reduced Atmospheric Deposition of Acids?

Abstract

Nelson Lake, a moderately acidic (pH 5.7), metal-contaminated (Cu 22 ug L^-1; Zn 18 ug L^-1) lake, 28 km from the smelters at Sudbury, had a degraded fish community in the early 1970’s, with lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) scarce, smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieui) extinct, and the littoral zone dominated by the acid-tolerant yellow perch (Perca flavescens). Liming of the lake in 1975–76 increased pH to 6.4, and decreased metal concentrations. Chemical conditions have remained relatively stable in the 10 yr following base addition. Initially, it appeared that neutralization produced dramatic changes in the resident fish community. Yellow perch abundance declined rapidly after neutralization, lake trout abundance increased to the extent that 3.26 kg ha^-1 were caught in the winter of 1980, and reintroduced smallmouth bass reproduced and established a large population. However, these changes in the fish community can not be directly attributed to liming, as water quality and the sport fisheries of an unlimed nearby lake also improved. Reduced emissions from Sudbury smelters were responsible for improvements in the untreated lake. Recovery of the lake trout population in Nelson Lake appears to have begun prior to liming. Of the lake trout sampled during the 1980 winter fishery, 65.8% were present prior to the chemical treatment. Predation by lake trout was the likely cause of the perch decline. Our results suggest that chemical conditions producing population level responses in fish have abrupt thresholds and that neutralization of lakes above these thresholds may not produce distinguishable effects.