Links between type E botulism outbreaks, lake levels, and surface water temperatures in Lake Michigan, 1963-2008

Relationships between large-scale environmental factors and the incidence of type E avian botulism outbreaks in Lake Michigan were examined from 1963 to 2008. Avian botulism outbreaks most frequently occurred in years with low mean annual water levels, and lake levels were significantly lower in outbreak years than in non-outbreak years. Mean surface water temperatures in northern Lake Michigan during the period when type E outbreaks tend to occur (July through September) were significantly higher in outbreak years than in non-outbreak years. Trends in fish populations did not strongly correlate with botulism outbreaks, although botulism outbreaks in the 1960s coincided with high alewife abundance, and recent botulism outbreaks coincided with rapidly increasing round goby abundance. Botulism outbreaks occurred cyclically, and the frequency of outbreaks did not increase over the period of record. Climate change scenarios for the Great Lakes predict lower water levels and warmer water temperatures. As a consequence, the frequency and magnitude of type E botulism outbreaks in the Great Lakes may increase.     

Our current understanding of lake ecosystem response to climate change: What have we really learned from the north temperate deep lakes?

Climatic change is recognized as an important factor capable of influencing the structural properties of aquatic ecosystems. Lake ecosystems are particularly sensitive to climate change. Several long time-series studies have shown close coupling between climate, lake thermal properties and individual organism physiology, population abundance, community structure, and food-web structure. Understanding the complex interplay between climate, hydrological variability, and ecosystem structure and functioning is essential to inform water resources risk assessment and fisheries management. The purpose of this paper is to present the current understanding of climate-induced changes on lake ecosystem phenology. We first review the ability of climate to modulate the interactions among lake hydrodynamics, chemical factors, and food-web structure in several north temperate deep lakes (e.g., Lake Washington, Lake Tahoe, Lake Constance, Lake Geneva, Lake Baikal, and Lake Zurich). Our aim is to assess long-term trends in the physical (e.g., temperature, timing of stratification, and duration of ice cover), chemical (e.g., nutrient concentrations), and biological (e.g., timing of the spring bloom, phytoplankton composition, and zooplankton abundance) characteristics of the lakes and to examine the signature of local weather conditions (e.g., air temperature and rainfall) and large-scale climatic variability (e.g., ENSO and PDO) on the lake physics, chemistry and biology. We also conducted modeling experiments to quantify the relative effect of climate change and nutrient loading on lake phenology. These modeling experiments focused on the relative changes to the major causal associations underlying plankton dynamics during the spring bloom and the summer stratified period. To further understand the importance of climate change on lakes, we propose two complementary directions of future research. First, additional research is needed to elucidate the wide array of in-lake processes that are likely to be affected by the climate change. Second, it is essential to examine the heterogeneity in responses among different water bodies. The rationale of this approach and its significance for dealing with the uncertainty that the climate signals cascade through lake ecosystems and shape abiotic variability and/or biotic responses have been recently advocated by several other synthesis papers.     

Approximate bottom contribution to remote sensing reflectance in Taihu Lake, China

Remote sensing is a fundamental tool for the analysis of spatial and temporal trends in lake ecosystems. A major challenge in using these approaches is determining the possible influence of reflectance from submerged vegetation or the lake bottom. In the present study, we examine the water leaving radiance measured in a large number of sites in Taihu Lake, a large shallow lake in southeast China. Due to the high concentrations of suspended sediment and phytoplankton biomass, a majority of the lake can be considered optically deep (i.e. bottom reflectance could be ignored). However, optically shallow waters were present in the shallow bays on the eastern side of the lake. In these areas, submerged vegetation was present. To explore the contribution of the lake bottom and submerged vegetation on remotely sensed reflectance, we compared two modeling approaches (Hydrolight and the LEE). The results show that differences in optical and physical characteristics of the lake bottom strongly influence the spectral characteristics of the measured reflectance. The resulting impact on the estimate of chlorophyll-a concentrations was tested using datasets with and without sites where bottom effects may occur. A significant improvement in the predictive capacity of the reflectance based estimated of phytoplankton biomass was made when areas with bottom influences were removed from the calibration procedure.     

Movement of smallmouth bass within the Beaver Island Archipelago, northern Lake Michigan

Fish movement may vary across a wide array of aquatic ecosystems and may be related to the overall size of the system inhabited. We investigated movement of smallmouth bass in Lake Michigan because this information is lacking for larger systems. A total of 16 smallmouth bass were surgically implanted with ultrasonic transmitters within the Beaver Archipelago, northern Lake Michigan. During 2007-2008, a maximum of one location per individual was recorded daily during three specific tracking periods - pre-spawn, spawning, and post-spawn - to determine diurnal movement patterns. Movement was evaluated as site fidelity, minimum displacement rate, maximum excursion rate, and distance from shore. Smallmouth bass exhibited greater maximum excursion rates during the spawn period compared to pre-spawn. Movement rates did not differ between tracking periods; however, movement rates were greater during the spawn period in 2007 than 2008. Both sexes moved further offshore to deeper water during post-spawn, but females were located further offshore than males during this period. Annual site fidelity was more evident during post-spawn than during spawning for both sexes. Two smallmouth bass emigrated outside of the Archipelago, suggesting this population may be more “open” in terms of individuals moving throughout northern Lake Michigan than previously thought. These results indicate smallmouth bass may move greater distances in larger aquatic systems and therefore larger management units (in terms of total area) should be established in Lake Michigan to account for these greater excursion distances.     

Evaporation from Lake Superior: 1. Physical controls and processes

The surface energy balance of Lake Superior was measured using the eddy covariance method at a remote, offshore site at 0.5-h intervals from June 2008 through November 2010. Pronounced seasonal patterns in the surface energy balance were observed, with a five-month delay between maximum summer net radiation and maximum winter latent and sensible heat fluxes. Late season (winter) evaporation and sensible heat losses from the lake typically occurred in two- to three-day-long events, and were associated with significant release of stored heat from the lake. The majority of the evaporative heat loss (70-88%) and sensible heat loss (97-99%) occurred between October and March, with 464 mm (2008-2009) and 645 mm (2009-2010) of evaporative water loss occurring over the water year starting October 1. Evaporation was proportional to the horizontal wind speed, inversely proportional to the ambient vapor pressure, and was well described by the ratio of wind speed to vapor pressure. This ratio remained relatively constant between the two water years, so the differences in evaporative water loss between years were largely associated with differences in lake surface conditions (e.g. water temperature, ice cover, and ice duration). Since late-season water temperature decline is driven by evaporative and sensible heat loss, the potential for a negative feedback mechanism between evaporation and ice cover is discussed.     

南四湖湖区水文站网水准系统研究

近年来南四湖水量调度中,各站水位出现了不合理现象,直接影响湖区洪水分析计算及调度决策.为查找出现不合理现象原因,进行了湖区水准系统勘测,根据测量成果,按照有关规范进行了分析研究,得出了湖区各站点高程系统变动情况的结论,为湖区各站点水准基面高程的修正提供了依据.     

从南四湖水利管理局水管体制改革实践看管养分离运行机制

南四湖水利管理局自2006年以来按照国务院水管体制改革实施意见和水利部水管体制改革实施方案要求,全面推行了水利工程管理和维修养护分离。总结了水管体制改革取得的显著成效,结合基层工作实际分析了管理和养护运作过程中存在的一些问题,提出了完善措施及建议。     

青海湖生态环境演变与稳定性

根据长系列水文模型模拟结果,对青海湖的环境演变进行了分析,利用一阶周期性自回归模型对青海湖水位变化趋势及其对湖泊生态的影响进行了预测。结果表明:青海湖多年平均亏缺水量为3.31亿m3,近10 a来增温幅度较大时期的亏缺水量为5.19亿m3;保持青海湖生态稳定的关键物种为青海湖裸鲤,盐度是决定青海湖裸鲤繁殖和生长的关键环境要素,其阈值为16.8‰;考虑气候变化的影响时,青海湖水位在未来30 a会继续下降,水位阈值为3 190.25 m,2030年水位最低,为3 191.35 m,此后水位开始小幅度回升并逐渐趋稳;不考虑气候变化的影响时,预计未来30 a内青海湖水位仍会持续下降,之后下降趋势开始变缓并趋于稳定,2100年左右稳定在3 192.25 m;两种预测结果都没有下降到青海湖生态稳定的水位阈值,因此未来青海湖生态系统的稳定性不受影响。     

鄱阳湖水资源保护规划研究

随着鄱阳湖区经济快速发展,工业废水和生活污水排放量增长较快,入湖污染负荷也相应增加。为了做好鄱阳湖水资源保护规划,在分析2004～2008年鄱阳湖湖区国家控制点监测资料的基础上,针对目前鄱阳湖存在的主要水污染问题,研究提出了鄱阳湖水资源保护目标与布局;通过分析鄱阳湖入湖污染负荷的来源和纳污能力,确定了污染物控制量和削减量;为有效地控制入湖污染负荷,提出了鄱阳湖水资源保护对策与措施。     

洞庭湖治理与湖区湿地保护探讨

洞庭湖是长江洪水的天然调蓄场所,不仅承接湘、资、沅、澧四水水沙,还纳入由荆江三口分泄的长江水沙,经湖泊调蓄后由城陵矶注入长江,形成了复杂的江湖关系,需要加强流域统一管理。通过分析洞庭湖区自然、经济状况及湖区湿地情况,结合1998年大水后湖区的治理情况及三峡工程蓄水运用后江湖关系的新变化,深入分析湖区湿地生态环境所面临的诸多问题,探讨如何在新一轮洞庭湖综合治理过程中,科学处理湖区综合治理与湿地生态环境保护与修复的关系。提出了洞庭湖统一管理措施,以便有效保护洞庭湖湿地生态环境与资源。