Toolik Lake: Ecology of an Aquatic Ecosystem in Arctic Alaska

263 Pages·1992·19.02 MB·English

by  George W. Kling

Taalik Lake
Developments in Hydrobiology 78
Series editor
H. J. Dumont
Toolik Lake
Ecology of an Aquatic Ecosystem in Arctic Alaska
Edited by
W. J. O'8rien
Reprinted from Hydrobiologia, val. 240 (1992)
SPRINGER-SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, B.V.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Teol,,, L~~e ec~log~ c' an ~cuat':; e::osvstel In arCflC Alaslt~ I
ec'te!! oy h.J. O·8c,~n.
p. ~". -- (Dl!ve\o~~~nts 'n tlyoroblclogy ; 78.
ISBN 978-94-010-5206-1 ISBN 978-94-011-2720-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-2720-2
1. La'e ecolo~y--A\~s~ •. 2. lHe ecologr-ArctlC reg,ons.
3. Lake ec~lo!i~--A\as~a--Tool\~ LHe. 4. L,,,nolo~y--Alas'..a--'t\OI,'
Uke. 5. Lu"nOlogy--Arcr1c reg\ons. 6 ToollI-. L.~e 'Alask.)
l. O'Brlen, rI. J. nl,II\U, JDnn', 1942- !l. S"~1es.
O,.:05.ACTS6 1992
57~.5·26322 09798--0:;29 92-26706
ISBN 978-94-010-5206-1
Primed on acid-/ree paper
Al! Rights Reserved
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrechl
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1992
Soflcovcr rcprint of Ihc hardcovcr 1s t cdition 1992
No part of Ihe material prolected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any
fonn or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying. recording, or by any
information slorage and relrieval system, without written permission from the copyright owner.
v
Contents
Preface. ................ .......................................................... vii
The biogeochemistry and zoogeography oflakes and rivers in arctic Alaska
by G. W. Kling, W. J. O'Brien, M. C. Miller & A. E. Hershey 1
Cation export from Alaskan arctic watersheds
by J. C. Cornwell 15
The flux ofCO and CH from lakes and rivers in arctic Alaska
2 4
by G. W. Kling, G. W. Kipphut & M. C. Miller 23
A silicon budget for an Alaskan arctic lake
by J. C. Cornwell & S. Banahan 37
Biogeochemistry ofmanganese- and iron-rich sediments in Toolik Lake, Alaska
by J. C. Cornwell & G. W. Kipphut 45
Nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations and export for the upper Kuparuk River on the North
Slope ofAlaska in 1980
by B. J. Peterson, T. Corliss, K. Kriet & J. E. Hobbie. ............................. 61
Water and sediment export ofthe upper Kuparuk River drainage ofthe North Slope ofAlaska
by K. Kriet, B. J. Peterson & T. L. Corliss 71
Influencesofslimysculpin(Cottuscognatus)predationontherockylittoralinvertebratecommunity
in an arctic lake
by B. E. Cuker, M. E. McDonald & S. C. Mozley 83
The influence oflight and nutrient addition upon the sediment chemistry ofiron in an arctic lake
by S. F. Sugai & G. W. Kipphut 91
Epilithic diatom community response to years ofP0 fertilization: Kuparuk River, Alaska (68 N
4
Lat.)
by M. C. Miller, P. DeOliveira & G. G. Gibeau 103
Epilithicchlorophylla, photosynthesis, andrespirationincontrolandfertilized reachesofatundra
stream
by W. B Bowden, B. J. Peterson, J. C. Finlay & J. Tucker 121
Community structure and bottom-up regulation of heterotrophic microplankton in arctic LTER
lakes
by P. A. Rublee ........................ ....................................... 133
Control mechanisms of arctic lake ecosystems: a limnocorral experiment
by W. J. O'Brien, A. E. Hershey, J. E. Hobbie, M. A. Hullar, G. W. Kipphut, M. C. Miller,
B. Moller & J. R. Vestal 143
A comparison of slimy sculpin (Cottus cognatus) populations in arctic lakes with and without
piscivorous predators
by K. L. Hanson, A. E. Hershey & M. E. McDonald............................... 189
Effects offish predation on larval chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) communities in an arctic
ecosystem
by A. P. Goyke & A. E. Hershey 203
VI
Costofpredation avoidancein young-of-yearlaketrout(Salvelinus namaycush): growthdifferential
in sub-optimal habitats
by M. E. McDonald, A. E. Hershey & W. J. O'Brien ..... .......................... 213
Shifts in abundance and growthofslimy sculpin inresponseto changes in the predatorpopulation
in an arctic Alaskan lake
by M. E. McDonald & A. E. Hershey 219
Salmonid diet and the size, distribution, and density ofbenthic invertebrates in an arctic lake
by G. W. Merrick, A. E. Hershey & M. E. McDonald 225
Simulation model ofthe planktivorous feeding ofarctic grayling: laboratory and field verification
by W. J. O'Brien & B. I. Evans 235
The effects ofriver fertilization on mayfly (Baetis sp.) drift patterns and population density in an
arctic river
by D. Hinterleitner-Anderson, A. E. Hershey & J. A. Schuldt. ................. ...... 247
Black fly (Diptera: Simuliidae) response to phosphorus enrichment of an arctic tundra stream
by A. L. Hiltner & A. E. Hershey 259
Access pipes for sampling through thick ice
by G. W. Kipphut & S. C. Whalen 267
Hydrobiologia 240, 1992.
W. J. O'Brien (ed.), Toolik Lake- Ecology ofan AquaticEcosystem inArcticAlaska. vii
Preface
The limnological study ofToolik Lake began in the summer of 1975. This research was an outgrowth
ofthearcticIBPprojectwhichhadfocusedmainlyon smallarcticpondecosystemsontheAlaskanarctic
coastal plain. It was thought desirable to study larger, deeper lakes which contained fish to further
generalizations developed during the IBP study. Toolik lake became a feasible study site with the
constructionoftheDaltonHighway,theroadbuilttoconstructthetrans-Alaskaoilpipelinewhichpasses
within a kilometer ofthe lake.
Toolik Lake (680 38' N, 1490 36' W) is a multiple basin kettle lake formed about 12,000 years BP. It
is a dimictic lake with a maximum depth of25 m but a mean depth of 7m. The lake is in a morainal
formation 20 km north ofthe Brooks Mountains at 720m elevation. It is a very oligotrophic lake with
an annual primaryproductivityofonly 15gC/m2fyr. Ice-outisgenerallyin mid to lateJune and the lake
refreezes in early to late September. Much ofthe specific limnology ofthe lake is detailed in the current
volume.
Initial research on Toolik Lake and the surroundinglakes and ponds focused on process studies such
as annual primary productivityofthelakeorthe vertical migration patterns ofthe resident zooplankton.
In 1978 the scope ofthe research expanded to include the study ofthe Kuparuk River, a fourth-order
stream which crosses the Dalton highway 5-6 km north ofToolik Lake. In 1983 the philosophy ofthe
research changed with the funding ofa more integrated program. The fundamental question posed was
whether arctic lake and stream ecosystems are regulated from the bottom up by nutrient availability or
from the top down by the density and activity oftop predators. In the Kuparuk River ecosystem this
involved adding nutrients to the stream while in the lakes it involved deploying a series oflimnocorrals
to which nutrients and fish were added. These limnocorrals proved excellent means of studying
nutrient-phytoplanktoninteractions,butthey provedless than idealin studyingtheecosystemfunctions
offishandbenthicinvertebratesinlakeecosystems(seemanuscriptinthisvolume). Hencein 1985began
some whole lake manipulations and continued fertilizations ofthe Kuparuk River.
In 1987 the Toolik Lake area was designated an LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) site, one
of 18 such sites throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Antarctic. The research theme for
the arctic LTER also focuses on the regulation ofarctic ecosystems, whether regulation comes from the
top downorbottomup. Thearctic LTER also incorporates aterrestrialcomponentas well as alake and
stream component.
W. J. O'BRIEN
Hydrobiologia 240: 1-14, 1992.
W.i. O'Brien(ed.), Toolik Lake - Ecologyofan AquaticEcosystem inArcticAlaska. 1
© 1992 KluwerAcademic Publishers.
The biogeochemistry and zoogeography of lakes and rivers in arctic
Alaska
GeorgeW. Kling, W. John O'Brien, Michael C. Miller & Anne E. Hershey
Department ofBiology, University ofMichigan, Ann Arbor, MI48109, USA; Department ofSystematics
andEcology, UniversityofKansas, Lawrence,KS66045, USA;DepartmentofBiologicalSciences, University
ofCincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA; Department ofBiological Sciences, University of
Minnesota-Duluth, Duluth, MN 55812, USA
Abstract
Water samples from 45 lakes and 8rivers in arctic Alaska were analyzed for major anions, cations,
nutrients, chlorophyll, zooplankton, and benthos. The waters were dilute (conductivities of 30 to
843 J1S cm- 1), and their composition varied from Na-Ca-Cl waters near the Arctic Ocean to Ca-Mg
HC0 waters further inland. Sea salt input in precipitation was important in determining the chemis
3
try ofcoastal lakes, partly becauseoflowgroundwaterflow and less time for water to react with shallow
unfrozen soils. Further inland, variations in water chemistry among sites were related mainly to differ
ences in bedrock, the age ofassociated glacial drift, and the input ofwind blown sediment. Variations
in zooplankton species composition among the lakes were related more to latitude, lake morphometery,
and biotic interactions than to waterchemistry. Thepresence offish as predators mostlydetermined the
overall size structure ofthe zooplankton community. The chironomid taxa identified have been previ
ously reported from the Neararctic, except for Corynocera oliveriwhich is a new record. The abundance
ofthe widely distributed chironomid Procladius appears to be controlled by sculpin predation.
Introduction foothills of the Brooks Range. About 30 of the
sites were investigated for the first time. Samples
The most recent general reviews ofarctic limnol were collected in June and July, mostly in 1988
ogy are by Hobbie (1980,1984). Sincethen, there and 1990.
have been further surveys or reviews on water
chemistry (Welch & Legault, 1986; Lock etaI.,
1989), on zooplankton (Haney & Buchanan, Site description
1987; Luecke & O'Brien, 1983), and on benthos
(Hershey, 1985; Miller & Stout, 1989; Maciolek, All study sites are located within several kilome
1989; Hershey, 1990). Despite this recent re ters ofthe Dalton Highway on the North Slope
searcheffort,therearelargeareasofarctic Alaska of Alaska (Fig. 1). There is continuous perma
and Canada that remain unexplored Iimnologi frost under the entire area, and this north-south
cally. transect includes sites in the Brooks Range
In this study we present chemical, zooplank (>900 m elevation), the foothills province (75
ton, and benthos data for 45 lakes and 8rivers 900 m), and the coastal plain « 75 m). All lakes
along the oil pipeline in arctic Alaska, and rain studied are natural, with theexceptionofsites 14,
chemistry data from the Toolik Lake area in the 48, 54, and 55, which aregravel pits or artificially
2
Table1. Locationandmorphometricdataforstudylakesand
rivers. Site numbers correspondto sites in Figure1.
A
~\ Site Latitude Longitude Elevation Area Max.
(o.'N) (o.'E) (m) (ha) depth (m)
Lakes
4 Itkillik 68.23 149.55 681 464 7.5
5 Galbraith 68.28 149.30 802 422 6.0
O-J,O km 6 Island 68.32 149.28 881 62.0 6.0
7 18 68.37 149.35 747 17.6 10.0
8 S13 68.38 149.40 754 1.0 5.4
9 S12 68.38 149.39 754 0.3 3.8
10 SII 68.38 149.39 750 0.4 13.1
11 S6 68.38 149.39 731 1.1 8.5
12 S3 68.38 149.38 719 4.0 5.0
13 Toolik 68.38 149.36 719 150 22.0
14 Dam 68.38 149.36 719 0.1 1.0
15 Camp 68.38 149.36 720 0.2 0.7
16 N1 68.38 149.37 731 4.4 14
17 N2 68.38 149.38 724 1.8 10.7
18 NE2 68.38 149.37 724 6.3 4.0
19 NE12 68.39 149.37 693 8.5 14
20 NE14 68.41 149.37 699 24.0
21 Itigaknit 68.42 149.40 663 153 6.0
22 E1 68.38 149.33 771 2.9 11
24 Campsite 68.36 149.11 864 79.5 12
2501 68.36 149.11 876 2.7 16.2
2602 68.35 149.12 892 17.1 >12.4
27 03 68.36 149.10 876 3.0 4.7
28 Elusive 68.39 148.30 525 300 17.2
B ~;..."2'.2 29 Moose 68.40 149.06 792 3.7 21.1
30 Hanging 68.41 149.06 785 6.1 10.5
5 '\,3 31 Foggy 68.41 149.05 770 3.1 17
4, 2,... DALTON 32 F4 68.41 149.04 754 2.3 3.6
I'':"'" HIGHWAY 34 George 68.44 148.58 597 7.3 2.0
35 Anne 68.44 148.56 556 8.5 2.0
Fig. 1. LocationofstudysitesontheNorth SlopeofAlaska.
36 Sag2 68.44 148.53 526 1.7 4.4
Site numbers correspond to the numbers and names in Ta
37 Sag1 68.45 148.52 510 18.7 2.8
ble1. Enlarged areas are (A)Prudhoe Bay, (B)Toolik, and 42 Charles 69.02 148.51 319 10.3 2.1
(C)Oksrukuyikdrainage. 44 William 69.35 148.38 145 35.5 1.3
45 Windy 69.58 148.44 57 28.6 1.9
46 Silhouette 70.05 148.32 24 56.8 1.7
dammed (Table 1). Lakes near the coast are less 47 Colleen 70.13 148.28 15 231 1.2
48 Sag-cpit 70.14 148.15 10 1.0 21.0
than 2m deep, and are formed by the action of
49 Bern 70.17 148.18 6 90.0 0.5
wind and thermokarst processes. Most lakes at 50 Dune 70.18 148.17 6 1.5 0.3
51 Maxine 70.22 148.30 2 180 0.55
elevations greater than 145 mare morraine
52 Carolyn 70.21 148.35 2 66.2 0.8
dammed orkettle ponds. The surficial geology of 53 Africa 70.20 148.48 4 91.2 0.8
theregionissummarizedbyBrown& Berg(1980) 54 Borrow pit! 70.20 148.56 3 1.0
55Borrow pit2 70.20 148.56 3 1.0
and Brown & Kreig (1983). Briefly, the coastal
plain is underlain by Quaternary eolian, alluvial, Rivers
1 WestAtigun 68.16 149.28 914
and marine sediments. In addition to suchrecent
2 Atigun 68.16 149.27 914
sediments, the foothills province contains older 3 Mt. Roche 68.23 149.19 869
23 Kuparuk 68.38 149.24 731
Cretaceous and Tertiary sandstones, conglomer
33 Oksrukuyik 68.52 148.51 411
ates,and siltstones. Mostoftheserocks areman 38 Oksrukuyik 68.43 149.01 628
tled by extensive deposits ofglacial drift ofvary 39 Sagavinirktok 68.52 148.50 404
40 Alexa 68.57 148.52 360
ing age. In the Brooks Range, the Lisburne
41 Sagcut 69.01 148.49 343
limestone and dolomitegroup, and shalesofTri 43 HappyValley 69.09 148.50 290
56 Kuparuk 70.20 149.00 3
assic to Pennsylvanian age are common.
3
The climate of the southern foothills and the ene bottles for no longer than 4months. Alkalin
coastal plain is summarized in Table 2. There is itywasdeterminedbypotentiometrictitrationand
a decreasing air temperature gradient moving the titration curves were analyzed by the method
northward toward the coastal plain. Total pre ofGran(Stumm&Morgan, 1981). In somesam
cipitation is higher in the mountains, but overall ples, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIe) concen
there are no distinct patterns across the North trations were determined by acidifying samples
Slope. About 40% ofthe precipitation is unfro with phosphoric acid and purging with nitrogen
zen on the coastal plain; moving southward the gas into a vacuum line. CO was collected by
2
thaw season lengthens and the unfrozen precip cryogenic distillation and gas pressure measured
itation can reach 75% ofthe total in the Brooks byanelectronicmanometricgauge.Alkalinitywas
Range(Haugen, 1982). Mostlakesonthecoastal thencalculatedfrom DICconcentrations andpH
plain freeze in late September and thaw in late usingthecarbonate speciesrelationsin Stumm&
June or early July. In the warmer foothills, lakes Morgan (1981) and Plummer & Busenberg
usually freeze in early October and thaw in late (1982). SO~- and CI- were analyzed usinga Di
June. Deeper lakes tend to freeze later in the fall onex ion chromatograph. Water samples for cat
andretaintheiricecoverlongerin thespringthan ion analyses werepreservedin thefield with HCI;
do shallow lakes; for example, Hobbie (1984) re Ca2+, Mg2+, and Mn2+ were analyzed byflame
portedicecoveronthe 57 mdeep Lake Schrader atomic absorption spectroscopy, and Na+ and
in late July and early August. K+ by flame emission. Soluble reactive phos
phate (SRP), N03- +NO;, and NHt were de
termined on a Technicon Autoanalyzer. The
Methods mean deviation from cation-anion balance was
4.8% (N=50, SE=0.9). Waters with ion imbal
Temperature, conductivity, and pH were mea ances greater than 10% were usually deficient in
sured in the field. Water samples were filtered anions; alkalinityinthese sampleswascalculated
through glass fiber filters (Whatman GF/C or from DIC concentrations rather than measured
Gelman A/E, 1.0J-Lm pore size) or membrane fil directly. Mineral equilibria calculations were
ters (0.45 J-Lm pore size) and stored in polyethyl- made using Giintelberg activity coefficients.
Theclimatestation atToolikLakeconsistedof
a Campbell Scientific data logger that recorded
Table2. Comparison ofclimate in the southern foothills at air temperature(Fenwall thermistor), wind speed
ToolikLakeandGalbraithandinthecoastalplainatBarrow
at 5m height (MET-ONE 014A anemometer),
and Prudhoe. Mean annual values and the rangeofmontWy
and solar radiation (LiCor 200SB pyranometer).
values aregiven,exceptfor precipitationfrom Prudhoe,Gal
braith, and Toolik where the range ofannual sums is given. Climate data are reported for the year from June
Toolik precipitation data are from Toolik River MSII? site; 1989 to June 1990. Precipitation samples were
Barrowdataarefrom Hobbie(1980); PrudhoeandGalbraith collectedusinganAerochemMetricswet-drycol
dataarefrom Haugen(1982). All precipitationdataarefrom
lector.
Wyoming snowgauges except for Barrow.
Chlorophylla (CHLa) was extracted in 90%
Site Temperature Precipitation Insolation Wind methanol and concentrations were calculated
(0C) (mm) (J/cm2/d) (m/sec) using equations in Wetzel & Likens (1979).
Zooplankton were collected using vertical or ob
Galbraith - 8.8 210
(- 30.5to 12.7) (188to 254) lique hauls of a 100 or 335J-Lm mesh net. Non
Too1ik -9.0 309 838 3.2 parametric Spearman Rank correlations were
(- 31.7to 12.4) (194to406) (0to 2168) (2.1 to 3.7)
made between zooplankton occurrence and
Prudhoe - 11.3 203
(-31.9to 9.4) (183 to 223) physical-chemical variables.
Barrow - 12.4 108 891 6.1 One benthic sample was taken with an Eck
(- 28.3 to4.1) (2.8to 22.8) (0to 2330) (5.6to6.8)
man grab in a subset ofthe lakes surveyed (Ta-