In our work on mountain lakes we've addressed both functional
and structural aspects of air pollution-related changes. We've examined
effects of chemical stressors (i.e., N deposition, acidification)
on things like species composition and diversity, and in doing so
we've generated information that's useful not only from ecological
but also natural history perspectives. To integrate information
about the biota of regional mountain lakes from ours and other work
in Loch Vale Watershed (Rocky
Mountian National Park) and the Wyoming
Snowy Range (Medicine Bow National Forest), we've compiled comprehensive
species lists of phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Taxa lists from our work come from mesocosm experiments as well
as lake monitoring and survey studies in both lake areas. Taxa from
experiments were included only if they were collected from ambient
lake water or control mesocosms; taxa from treated mesocosms were
omitted. Phytoplankton and zooplankton from our experiments were
identified by Brenda and Toben Lafrançois, respectively,
using a variety of taxonomic
keys. Extra taxonomic data from Loch Vale Watershed were derived
from Sarah Spaulding's M.S. thesis, Alex Wolfe's Sky Pond sediment
core, long-term monitoring records and two USGS monitoring studies.
Extra taxonomic data from the Wyoming Snowy Range were provided
by lake monitoring studies at the Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments
Site (GLEES). Click here for published and unpublished sources
of data for these taxa lists.
Pooled together, these species lists represent five lakes in Loch
Vale Watershed and 19 lakes in the Snowy Range. They include taxa
sampled throughout the year from both intensive and extensive sampling
efforts. To our knowledge, the lists on this website represent the
sum of all phytoplankton and zooplankton taxa documented in these
two lake areas to date.
Links to image files and taxonomic information (i.e., collection
place, date, taxonomic authority, magnification) are available for
some of the taxa. Images on this website were captured using National
Institute of Health imaging software and a video camera mounted
to an inverted microscope with 480x or 1500x magnification. All
imaging work was completed at the Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory
by Brenda and Toben Lafrançois. We welcome questions and
corrections about identifications, species lists or images - comments
can be addressed to jill@nrel.colostate.edu
.
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