Acid Mine Pollution Effects on Lake BiologyFor greater recreational potential of stripmine lakes, certain fundamental limnological information and the unique water chemistry resulting from leaching of substances contained in the cast overburden of the lakes were investigated. Increasing levels of dissolved oxygen and decreasing concentrations of dissolved substances showed environmental trends in surface waters. These tendencies were somewhat obscured by differences in the annual cycles of stratification, four of the lakes proving to be unexpectedly meromictic. Biological changes associated with increasing pH included increasing diversity and increasing homeostasis. Both pH and circulation patterns (meromixis vs. holomixis) influenced biomass, and bottom fauna was further limited by the steep-sided basin form. All stripmine lakes had much higher solute concentrations and lower biological diversity than a small local non-stripmine reservoir studied as control. Sport fishing in stripmine lakes could be improved by management techniques. |
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1817 LIBRARIES Acid Mine Drainage acid pollution anaerobic animal taxa annual cycle APPENDIX aquatic Bathymetric map benthic benthos biocoenosis biomass bottom fauna Campbell chemical CHIGAN coal stripmine lakes concentrations control lake deep water diagram of dissolved diagram of pH diagram of specific diagram of temperature differences dissolved oxygen variation dissolved substances ecological succession ecosystem environmental holomictic Hutchinson 1957 hypolimnion increasing pH Indiana lakes ions Lake III Lake III Lake Lakes A1 limnological M.S. thesis map of Lake maximum meromictic lakes meromixis MICHIGAN Missouri lakes monimolimnion morphometry number of taxa organisms overall oxygen variation mg/1 patterns Percent biomass percent saturation pH variation Pike County lakes plankton ponds production range reclamation relatively rotifer samples shallow standing crop strip stripmine areas study lakes surface and bottom surface waters systems ecology Table taxa temperature variation thermal stratification Time-depth diagram total dissolved solids turbidity UNIV variation in Lake Wildlife zooplankton ΟΣ