PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 39: Limnology I: Ecosystems, Eutrophication, and Restoration.
Presiding: KL Cottingham
Wednesday, August 6. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 101.
Effect of lakeshore development on riparian forest and littoral woody habitat.
Sugden-Newbery, Anna*,1, Turner, Monica1, Kratz, Timothy1, Carpenter, Stephen1, 1 University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
ABSTRACT- Residential development is increasing in many rural landscapes throughout the US, yet the impacts of such development are poorly understood. Residential development is often concentrated near aquatic ecosystems, and understanding terrestrial-aquatic interactions may be critical for assessing ecological effects of development. Introduction of wood from riparian forests into the littoral zone, where it provides important habitat for fish, is a key terrestrial-aquatic interaction that is not well understood. Increasing development could alter the amount and quality of littoral habitat through direct removal of coarse woody habitat (CWH) by humans and through reduced input rates if homeowners thin riparian forests. We sampled the shorelines of 30 lakes in Vilas County, Wisconsin, USA, that ranged in building density from zero to 38 houses/km of shoreline. At eight sites per lake, we measured the intensity of land use; the abundance of littoral CWH along a 50-m transect at 0.5-m water depth; and the composition, structure and amount of living trees and CWH in three 100-m2 plots of riparian forest. Littoral and riparian CWH and riparian forest stand density were highly variable both within and among lakes. Estimates of the riparian CWH by lake varied from 25 to 550 logs/ha, whereas littoral CWH varied from 0 to 280 logs/km of shoreline. Whole-lake estimates of riparian forest stand densities varied from 375 to 1875 stems/ha. Increased building density had a negative relationship with both riparian and littoral CWH (R2 = 0.547, p < 0.001 and R2 = 0.385, p < 0.001) These results suggest that CWH reduction is an important pathway through which residential development and human activity may alter terrestrial-aquatic interactions in rural landscapes.
Key words: littoral zone, coarse woody debris, residential development, lakeshore