Collaborative Research: Putting the Lake Back Together: Integrating Littoral Productivity Into Lake Food Webs

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Collaborative Research: Putting the Lake Back Together: Integrating littoral productivity into lake food webs Jake Vander Zanden University of Wisconsin-MadisonLake shore (littoral zone) habitats of lakes are highly sensitive to human disturbances and activities. Lake biologists have traditionally directed their studies towards open-water (pelagic) components of lake ecosystems. As a result, the contribution of littoral habitats to lake ecosystems remains poorly known. What is their role in supporting lake biodiversity? What is their role in supporting fish populations? This project will assess littoral zone productivity relative to pelagic zone productivity, and will assess how the relative importance of these two habitats change with lake size and nutrient levels. Second, it will test the hypothesis that littoral zone productivity is more efficiently channeled up the food chain to support fish production, thus indicating a higher importance to littoral habitats for supporting fisheries. Third, it will test whether littoral habitats support more biodiversity than pelagic habitats. This research will also investigate connections between food chains in littoral and pelagic zones, and in doing so, will provide a more holistic understanding of how natural lakes function. Importantly, this work will provide mangaement insights into how littoral habitat destruction and lake eutrophication (nutrient enrichment) affect littoral zone productivity. This research will improve our understanding of these habitat changes and the implications for the productivity of higher trophic levels. Graduate and undergraduate students will be trained in limnology and analytical chemistry.