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| Yours truly counting emergent plant stems, in this case Stiff Arrowhead (Sagittaria rigida) |
Once upon a time the East Basin of Lake Puckaway was nothing more than a river channel in a sea of wild rice and bulrushes that concealed the lake below. Also in the shallows grew arrowheads, cane (Phragmites), sedges and cattails. These are all emergent plants, which means a major portion of the plant sticks out of the water. These plants are critically important to many fish and wildlife. Northern pike only attach their eggs to vertical stems, so without this type of vegetation there could be no natural reproduction of northern pike. Emergent and other vegetation also have a profound effect on water quality by holding sediment in place, dampening wave action, and several other mechanisms. In parts of a lake the water clarity may be less than a foot while in a healthy bed of aquatic plants the water is much clearer.
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| Clear water in aquatic plant bed, Western Lake Puckaway. Mid-lake the water clarity was less than a foot. |
Starting with the construction of the dam at Princeton, water level management began to have a slow but steady negative effect on emergent plants. Coupled with poor agricultural practices and shoreland use, this eventually led us to a greater than 80% loss in emergent vegetation. The Emergent Plant Stabilization project recognizes the importance of this habitat and the need to halt and reverse these losses.
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| Derek using the GPS in the LPPRD's work boat. |
Emergent Plants in the Survey
Soft-stem bulrush, Schoenoplectus acutus
Giant Reed (cane), Phragmites australis
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| Pulling the boat through shallow water to another survey point. |
Good stuff - as shoreline owner I love seeing this out there. Where were those pics taken? Looks like behind the dredge bank? Im surprised the Carp hadn't gotten in there and destroyed it.
ReplyDeleteThere are some healthy beds of stiff arrowhead immediately behind and along the dredge bank, but these were on the extreme Western Shore. This vegetation is firmly rooted in sand where carp cannot root too deeply. Still carp don't help matters here, and in areas with mucky bottom I'm sure they could do plenty of damage. These particular plants have more to fear in muskrats, but at least that is the natural order of Lake Puckaway.
ReplyDeleteWe also surveyed the dredge bank area, and the cane bed that runs from it to the North shore. All in it appears to be a bad year for vegetation, which partially explains this year's poor water clarity. My guess is the cold spring and high water negatively impacted all kinds of vegetation, and then thick algae continued to stress the plants. Hopefully we will have a "normal" spring in 2012.