PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #65: Aquatic Ecology: Stream and Lake.
Presiding: C. Osenberg
Wednesday, August 7. 1:00 PM to 4:45 PM. Coconino Meeting Room, TCC.

Studies on the habitat profiles of Eagle Lake and Chotard Lake in Warren, County, Mississippi.

Neal, Chadric^*,1, Acholonu, Alex¹, ¹ Alcorn State University, Lorman, MS

ABSTRACT- Contaminants alter the ecological conditions of many lakes, hence some measure of the degree of pollution is needed in an aquatic habitat profile study. The present study was conducted on two lentic water bodies, Eagle Lake and Chotard Lake in Warren County, Mississippi, to compare their habitat profiles and to find out if they meet the Mississippi water quality standard. During the period, February 2001 to October 2001 (i.e. a period covering the winter, spring, summer, and the fall seasons), water samples were collected at three different locatons in three replicates from Eagle Lake and Chotard Lake respectively. The following parameters were tested for each site in both lakes: ammonia (nitrogen), total alkalinity, carbon dioxide, silica, phosphate, chloride, sulfide, nitrate-N, pH, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and temperature. There were not many significant differences in the test results obtained from both lakes. The two lakes meet the Mississippi water quality standard for ephemeral water bodies and are good for recreational uses.

KEY WORDS: Habitat profiles, Lakes, Pollution