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Presentation
on results of Lake Katherine study
Nick Scribner received funds to present his graduate research
to the public and scientific community at the ESA-INTECOL meeting in Montreal,
Quebec.
His research findings are presented below; this article
was published in the Fall 2005 Lake
Connection newsletter.
Development affects link between forests, lakes
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Fallen trees protect shorelines
from erosion, and are an important source of nutrients, minerals
and wildlife habitat. |
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Clear cutting riparian forests
was a common practice in the early 20th century when much of northern
Wisconsin forests were logged. |
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The understory of this riparian
forest has been removed. Seedlings that would replace these large
trees are not being allowed to grow. |
Shoreland forests act as filters, retainers, and suppliers
of nutrients and organic material to lakes. The process of trees growing,
maturing, and eventually falling into lakes (where they also provide important
habitat for fish and wildlife) is called a recruitment cycle. Disruption
of the recruitment cycle can be caused by natural processes (such as fire,
disease, wind, insects) or human interference (clear-cutting, selective
aesthetic removal). Development pressure on Wisconsin's
lakes is increasing, but little information exists on how development
may influence natural processes linking riparian forests and lakes. My
research demonstrates how current land use will influence future recruitment
of wood and the sustainability of natural processes linking riparian areas
and aquatic ecosystems.
I conducted two years of research on Lake Katherine in
Oneida County to understand the characteristics of the current shoreland
forest, riparian land use, and the amount of woody debris in the shorelands
of the lake. We wanted to develop a model that would predict how human
actions would impact riparian forest conditions and the amount of woody
debris in the shorelands. Then we could forecast future conditions of
shoreline habitats and how those conditions might affect the fish and
wildlife that depend on these areas.
| Summary
of Results |
- most of the branches and complexity of
a tree are lost within the first 5-10 years it is in the water
as it decays
- conifer species decay slower and maintain
their branching complexity longer than deciduous species
- lack of tree recruitment leads to less
branching complexity in the littoral zone, which provides less
woody habitat for aquatic organisms
- Shoreland areas adjacent to houses had
fewer pieces of coarse wood, less complex habitat, and fewer fish
and wildlife observed
- undisturbed riparian forests had significantly
higher tree densities than developed sites and similar conditions
were predicted for the next 150 years
- tree densities were predicted to decrease
but stabilize for all land uses except developed sites, which
continued declining due to perpetual removal of trees
- coarse wood recruitment from developed
sites was forecasted to be 70% less for the next 30 years, and
95% less by the year 2155 compared to natural sites
- restoration of riparian forests at developed
sites may increase coarse wood recruitment after 30 years
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