Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2014MA421B

Investigating effects of annual winter lake drawdowns on fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages and diet

Institute: Massachusetts
Year Established: 2014 Start Date: 2014-03-01 End Date: 2015-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $5,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $10,304

Principal Investigators: Allison Roy, Stephen DeStefano

Project Summary: Annual winter drawdowns threaten to compromise the ecological integrity of lakes and ponds. In Massachusetts, annual winter drawdowns are common and have been conducted for several decades in some cases. This project aims to investigate the effects of winter drawdowns on fish and macroinvertebrates assemblages for multiple lakes in western MA. We will compare two lakes that have undergone annual winter drawdowns with two unmanaged lakes. In each lake, we will quantify sub-daily water level fluctuations using pressure transducers. We will sample fish and macroinvertebrate assemblages in the littoral zone using a variety of techniques, and collect samples for ageing, growth, gut content, and stable isotope analysis. The goal is to identify abiotic and biotic factors that may be sensitive to drawdown for additional investigation in follow-up studies over a larger spatial scale and across a range of lake management. The research is largely being funded by a grant from Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to support a graduate student (part of which is match for this proposal), and this USGS grant would provide necessary funds for field supplies and travel to field sites.