Turkey Lakes Watershed,Ontario, Canada: 40 years of interdisciplinary whole-ecosystem research |
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| Authors: | Kara L. Webster Jason A. Leach Paul W. Hazlett Robert L. Fleming Erik J. S. Emilson Daniel Houle Kara H. Y. Chan Fariborz Norouzian Amanda S. Cole Jason M. O'Brien Karen E. Smokorowski Stephanie A. Nelson Shelagh D. Yanni |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Great Lakes Forestry Centre, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada;2. Environment Canada and Climate Change, Water Science and Technology Branch, Montreal, Quebec, Canada;3. Environment Canada and Climate Change, Water Science and Technology Branch, Burlington, Ontario, Canada;4. Environment Canada and Climate Change, Atmospheric Science and Technology Branch, Toronto, Ontario, Canada;5. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Ontario and Prairie Region, Great Lakes Laboratory for Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada |
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| Abstract: | The Turkey Lakes Watershed (TLW) study is a federal, interdepartmental study established in 1979 to investigate the effects of acid rain on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The 10.5 km2 watershed, located in the Eastern Temperate Mixed Forest on the Canadian Shield, has been the site of multidisciplinary studies on biogeochemical and ecological processes conducted across plot to catchment scales. The whole-ecosystem investigative approach was adopted from the outset and has allowed research to evolve from its original (and continuing) acidification focus to include investigations on the effects of climate change, forest harvesting and other forest ecosystem perturbations. The extensive scientific and support infrastructure allows for collection of a comprehensive data record essential for understanding long-term environmental trends. Data include atmospheric deposition, meteorology, stream hydrology and chemistry, soil, pore and ground water properties, understory and overstory vegetation, lake and outflow physical and chemical properties, and aquatic macroinvertebrate and fish community composition and abundance. These data have contributed to over 400 published research papers and graduate theses. The watershed has also figured prominently in many continent-wide comparisons advancing fundamental watershed theory. The knowledge gained at TLW has influenced pollutant emission and natural resource management policies provincially, nationally and internationally. |
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| Keywords: | Turkey Lakes shed study water acidification climate change ecosystem study harvest impacts soil vegetation water |
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