Abstract
Changes in physical, chemical and biological factors were observed during a 5-yr experimental acidification study in Lake 223 of the Experimental Lakes Area, and compared to a 2 yr pre-acidification period. Significant changes included increased transparency, rates of hypolimnion heating and rates of thermocline deepening; increased concentrations of Mn, Na, Zn, Al, and chlorophyll; decreased concentrations of suspended C, total dissolved N, Fe and chloride; increases in Chlorophyta but decreases in Chrysophyta; the disappearance of the opossum shrimpMysis relicta and the fathead minnowPimephales promelas; the appearance of epidemics of the filamentous algaMougeotea; decreased fitness and decline in numbers ofOrconectes virilis; and increased embryonic mortality of the lake troutSalvelinus namaycush.
Sulfur budgets for two lakes experimentally acidified with sulfuric acid reveal that an average of 1/4 to 1/3 of added sulfate is sedimented, presumably as FeS, reducing the efficiency of acidification. The sedimentation occurs under both oxic and anoxic conditions. The utility of whole-ecosystem mass balance studies of S in ‘experimental’ and ‘observational’ mass balance studies is discussed.
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Schindler, D.W., Turner, M.A. Biological, chemical and physical responses of lakes to experimental acidification. Water Air Soil Pollut 18, 259–271 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02419417
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02419417