Source: CORNELL UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
THE RE-ENGINEERING OF THE ONEIDA LAKE FOOD WEB: ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND NEW INVASIVE SPECIES
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0226747
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2011
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2014
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
CORNELL UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
ITHACA,NY 14853
Performing Department
Natural Resources
Non Technical Summary
This project directly addresses two drivers of ecosystem change, climate and invasive species. Specifically, we want to understand the interactions between invasives and climate change,and develop methods for how to study these interactions. We will do this with a combination of field sampling, experimental studies on key variables, and a coupled biological and physical model of the lake. Our study system is Oneida Lake, New York, which was recently invaded by a new invasive species, the quagga mussel. Oneida Lake has a 50 year data series that allows us to put predicted ecological change in perspective of annual variations and current time trends. New York is a water rich state with over 8300 lakes. These lakes are a critical resource for tourism and as water supplies for many municipalities. Our study will provide guidance on how to mitigate, or alternatively how to adapt to climate change. This research should help direct limited environmental improvement funds to where they are most useful in the future. Although the modeling results of this particular study are specific to Oneida Lake, the approach we develop can serve as a template for how to investigate similar issues in other New York lakes. Oneida Lake is also the second most fished lake in New York State with a value of tourism from fishing alone of around 20 million dollars a year.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1120399119030%
1350812119030%
1350819119020%
1320430205020%
Knowledge Area
135 - Aquatic and Terrestrial Wildlife; 112 - Watershed Protection and Management; 132 - Weather and Climate;

Subject Of Investigation
0430 - Climate; 0399 - Watersheds and river basins, general; 0819 - Natural fisheries, other; 0812 - Fish habitats;

Field Of Science
2050 - Hydrology; 1190 - Limnology;
Goals / Objectives
The effect of invasive species depends on future climate change. Understanding this coupling in lakes requires embedding biological interactions within hydrodynamics constraints and a prediction o fhow the hydrodynamics of lakes are affected by climate change. We propose to do this in Oneida Lake, New York, one of the largest lakes in the state with a significant fishery. Oneida Lake also has a long term data set and therefore an ideal location for studies on ecosystem change. Specifically, we propose to (1) analyze the long term data for changes in algal abundance and water clarity associated with the shift from zebra to quagga mussels. This includes checking the historical data and updating the files available on the web through Cornell University's data repository program. (2) Experimentally measure the filtering rate of zebra and quagga mussels at temperatures that occur during the spring algal bloom. (3) Survey the abundance of quagga and zebra mussels over different substrates in Oneida Lake and estimate the total population size. (4) Measure the changes in timing and magnitude of mussel filtering rates associated with the replacement of zebra by quagga mussels in Oneida Lake. (5) Use a hydrodynamic model to predict future changes in water exchange between bottom and surface layers and the access of mussels to water column production as a function of season under different climate change scenarios. (6) Incorporate the results in the educational material material developed for local schools through the Oneida Lake Education Initiative.
Project Methods
The long term data available on the web through Mann Library will be updated to include all data up to 2012. A new dataset with phytoplankton biovolume since 2000 will be added. These data will be analyzed for changes in the spring algal blooms associated with the invasion of the quagga mussel. Filtering rates of quagga and zebra mussels will be measured at 2, 4 and 8 C in temperature control rooms. Rates are calculated from the depletion of chlorophyll a and converted to volume of water cleared per unit time. A fluorometer and microscopes for phytoplankton analyses are available at CBFS. Quagga and zebra mussels will be surveyed over different substrates using divers. We will expand on this method using additional dives and dredge samples over soft substrate areas. Quagga and zebra mussels will be identified and measured in the lab. The ability of mussels to access the water column is dependent on the water movement between the surface and bottom layers in relation to the filtering rates of the mussels. We will use the University of Western Australia's Center for Water Research's Dynamic Reservoir Simulation Model to determine water movement between different bottom depths and the water column. This model uses a one-dimensional representation of the water column that accounts for the shape of the basin, solar radiation and wind. The coupled water movement and filtering rate model will provide the seasonal changes in mussel filtering rates and compared to phytoplankton production and feeding by other herbivores such as Daphnia. The outreach material will be updated in year 1 and 2 and an in-house training for teachers completed in year 3.

Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: The Oneida Lake website targets local schools K-12 in the watershed as well as interested general public. Teachers in local school districts through teacher training. Managers of fisheries and water resources in New York State. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Masters degree for Amy Hetherington completed. She is continuing towards a PhD. Undergraduate internships for nine Cornell University students and one student from SUNY-Fredonia working with research projects and outreach/extension (Jonathan Hunn, Sarah Newman Jaqueline Wu, Vadim Karatayev, Elizabeth Keller, Alicia Zhao, Marissa White, Samantha Roth, Jeff Rossi, Hannah George). Two of these students expanded their work as honors thesis (Elizabeth Keller and Alicia Zhao). One additional student published his work in PLoSONE (Karatayev et al. 2014). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Annual meetings with fisheries managers from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Meetings with the directors and with the general membership of the Oneida Lake Association Presentations for local interest groups, for K-12 teachers including a day of teacher training at the Cornell Biological Field Station (CBFS) in 2013 and one day in 2014, at local community days and county fairs, open house at CBFS for the public in 2013, presentation at Darwin days of the Museum of the Earth, Ithaca. Presentations at scientific meetings (American Water Resources Association, New York American Fisheries Society, Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network meetings, Departmental seminars at Cornell, Climate Change forum, International Association for Great Lakes Research, Workshop on climate change and fisheries) What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments by Objectives: 1) The necessary databases were updated for zooplankton and limnological data including phytoplankton. Data are available on the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (https://knb.ecoinformatics.org). Time series analysis completed for phytoplankton and zooplankton to predict underlying long-term patterns and several book chapters are accepted for publication based on these analyses (Caceres et al., Idrisi et al, Fitzgerald et al., Mills et al., Mayer et al.). One book chapter (Mayer et al. 2014) and one journal article published in 2014 (Kremer et al. 2014) including these data. 2) Filtering rate experiments were completed for temperatures from 2 to 30 C for both mussel species and a first draft of a manuscript is completed. Effects of predators on filtering rates and comparisons of the effect of predators on mussel behavior and growth rates completed and published (Naddafi and Rudstam 2013a,b, 2014 a,b,c) 3) Mussel populations in Oneida Lake were assessed with extended Ekman grabs for assessing soft bottom distributions as well as dive surveys. Processing of samples from 2012 and 2013 completed. Database for mussels checked for consistency back through 1992. Mollusk in general were assessed across Oneida Lake and compared with historical data (Karatayev et al. 2014). 5) The hydrodynamics model was calibrated for Oneida Lake and used to analyze climate change impact on temperature and water stratification. A manuscript is accepted pending revisions in the journal Ecological Modeling showing the lilkely temperature increase of 4 C and increased length of the intermittent stratified period of 30 days by the end of the century as a result of the application of downscales climate change scenarios for the Oneida Lake region (Hetherington et al. accepted). Data was provided to the working group on a general lake model (GLM) for testing of new open source software package for inclusion of mussel filtering. The GLM model best for lakes that stratify throughout the summer. For these lakes, model temperatures are within 1 C of the observed. For polymictic lakes like Oneida Lake, the GLM model can be off by 2 C from observed. Polymictic lakes are more difficult to model accurately and the Oneida data provides input for improving the GLM model for such lakes. 6) Results to date were incorporated in updated web sites and presentations for K-12 and the general public.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Idrisi, N., E. L. Mills, and L. G. Rudstam. in press. Long-term phytoplankton community dynamics: Oneida Lake (1975-2011).in L. G. Rudstam, E. L. Mills, J. R. Jackson, and D. J. Stewart, editors. Oneida Lake: long term dynamics of a managed ecosystem and its fisheries. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Karatayev, V. A., A. Y. Karatayev, L. G. Rudstam, and L. E. Burlakova. 2014. Eutrophication and Dreissena invasion as drivers of biodiversity: a century of change in the mollusc community of Lake Oneida. PLoS-ONE 9: e101388.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kremer, C. T., J. P. Gillette, L. G. Rudstam, P. Brettum, and R. Ptacnik. 2014. A compendium of cell and natural unit biovolumes for >1,200 freshwater phytoplankton species. Ecology 95:2984. Ecological Archives E095-257-D1.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Submitted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Sharma, S., D.K. Gray, J.S. Read, C.M. OReilly, P. Schneider, A. Qudrat, C. Gries, S. Stefanoff, S.E. Hampton, S. Hook, J.D. Lenters, D.M. Livingstone, P.B. McIntyre, R. Adrian, M.G. Allan, O. Anneville, L. Arvola, J. Austin, J. Bailey, J.S. Baron, J. Brookes, Y. Chen, R. Daly, K. Ewing, E. de Eyto, M. Dokulil, D. Hamilton, K. Havens, S. Haydon, H. Hetzenauer, J. Heneberry, A.L. Hetherington, S.N. Higgins, E. Hixson, L.R. Izmesteva, B.M. Jones, K. Kangur, P. Kasprzak, B.M. Kraemer, M. Kumagai, E. Kuusisto, G. Leshkevich, L. May, S. MacIntyre, D. M�ller-Navarra, M. Naumenko, P. Noges, T. Noges, R.P. North, A. Paterson, P.D. Plisnier, A. Rigosi, A. Rimmer, M. Rogora, L. Rudstam, J.A. Rusak, N. Salmaso, N.R. Samal, D.E. Schindler, G. Schladow, S.R. Schmidt, T. Schultz, E.A. Silow, D. Straile, K. Teubner, P. Verburg, A. Voutilainen, A Watkinson, G.A. Weyhenmeyer, C.E. Williamson, and K.H. Woo. 2014. A global database of lake surface temperatures (1985-2009) collected by in situ and satellite methods. Nature Scientific Data. Submitted.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Hetherington, A. L., R. L. Schneider, L. G. Rudstam, G. Gal, A. T. DeGaetano, and M. T. Walter. 2015 Modeling climate change impacts on the thermal dynamics of polymictic Oneida Lake, New York. Ecological Modelling. on line access.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Mayer, C. M., B. Zhu, and R. Johnson. in press. The zebra mussel invasion of Oneida Lake: benthification of a eutrophic lake. Page submitted in L. G. Rudstam, E. L. Mills, J. R. Jackson, and D. J. Stewart, editors. Oneida Lake: Long-term dynamics of a managed ecosystem and its fisheries. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Mills, E. L., J. L. Forney, and K. T. Holeck. Oneida Lake: a century of biotic introductions and ecosystem change.in L. G. Rudstam, E. L. Mills, J. R. Jackson, and D. J. Stewart, editors. Oneida Lake: Long-term dynamics of a managed ecosystem and its fishery. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Fitzgerald, D. G., B. Zhu, L. G. Rudstam, S. B. Hoskins, D. E. Haddad, N. R. Burtch, J. T. Coleman, D. L. Crabtree, and E. L. Mills. in press. Dynamics of aquatic vegetation in Oneida Lake, 1915-1 2005: A response to ecosystem change.in E. L. Mills, L. G. Rudstam, J. R. Jackson, and D. J. Stewart, editors. Oneida Lake: Long-term dynamics of a managed ecosystem and its fisheries. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2015 Citation: Caceres, C. E., N. G. Hairston Jr., L. G. Rudstam, E. L. Mills, T. O'Keefe, L. A. Davias, C. Hotaling, and L. E. Jones. in press. Zooplankton in Oneida Lake: population dynamics, trophic interactions, and dormant egg bank.in L. G. Rudstam, E. L. Mills, J. R. Jackson, and D. J. Stewart, editors. Oneida Lake: long term dynamics of a managed ecosystem and its fisheries. American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, Maryland.


Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: The Oneida Lake website targets local schools K-12 in the watershed as well as interested general public. Managers of Fisheries and Water Resources in New York State. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Masters degree for Amy Hetherington completed. She is continuing towards a PhD. Undergraduate internships for five Cornell University students and one student from SUNY-Fredonia working with research projects and outreach/extension. Three students are doing their honors thesis in conjunction with this project (Vadim Karatayev, Elizabeth Keller, Alicia Zhao). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Annual meetings with fisheries managers from NYS Department of Environmental Conservation. Meetings with the directors and with the general membership of the Oneida Lake Association Presentations for local interest groups, for K-12 teachers including a day of teacher training at the Cornell Biological Field Station (CBFS), at local community days and county fairs, open house at CBFS for the public, Darwin days at Museum of the Earth. Presentations at scientific meetings (New York American Fisheries Society, Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network meetings, Departmental seminars at Cornell, Climate change forum, International Association for Great Lakes Research, Workshop on climate change and fisheries). What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? We will complete the databases required for analysis of objective 4 and 5 during the winter of 2014 and analysis will be completed for objective 4 soon thereafter. Objectives 2, 3 and 6 have been completed. The project is proceeding well.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Accomplishments by Objectives: 1) The necessary databases were updated for zooplankton and limnological data. Time series analysis completed for phytoplankton to predict underlying long-term patterns. 2) Filtering rate experiments were completed for temperatures from 2 to 30 C for both mussel species. 3) Mussel populations in Oneida Lake were assessed with extended Ekman grabs for assessing soft bottom distributions as well as dive surveys. Processing of samples from 2012 completed. 5) The hydrodynamics model was calibrated for Oneida Lake and used to analyze climate change impact on temperature and water stratification. Data was provided to the working group on a general lake model (GLM) for testing of new open source software package for inclusion of mussel filtering. This work continues in 2014. 6) Results to date were incorporated in updated web sites and presentations for K-12 and the general public.

Publications

  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Mayer, C. M., L. E. Burlakova, P. Ekl�v, D. Fitzgerald, A. Y. Karatayev, S. A. Ludsin, S. Millard, E. L. Mills, A. P. Ostapenya, L. G. Rudstam, B. Zhu, and T. V. Zhukova. 2013. The benthification of freshwater lakes: exotic mussels turning ecosystems upside down Pages 575-585 in T. F. Nalepa and D. W. Schloesser, editors. Quagga and zebra mussels: biology, impacts, and control, second edition. CRC Press
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Naddafi, R. and L. G. Rudstam. 2013. Predator diversity effects in an exotic freshwater food web. PLoS ONE 8:e72599.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Naddafi, R. and L. G. Rudstam. 2013. Predator induced behavioural defence in two competitive invasive species. Animal Behaviour 86:1275-1284.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Naddafi, R. and L. G. Rudstam. 2014. Predation on invasive zebra mussel, Dreissena polymorpha, by pumpkinseed sunfish, rusty crayfish, and round goby Hydrobiologia 721:107-115.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2014 Citation: Naddafi, R. and L. G. Rudstam. 2014. Predator-induced morphological defenses in two invasive dreissenid mussels: implications for species replacement. Freshwater Biology in press.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2014 Citation: Naddafi, R. and L. G. Rudstam. 2014. Does differential predation explain the replacement of zebra by quagga mussels? Freshwater Science in press.


Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: During the first year we completed a set of experiments on clearance rates of both zebra and quagga mussels feeding on phytoplankton. Mussel populations in Oneida Lake were assessed with Ponar grabs, dive surveys and video camera and work is ongoing to compare these methods. This will continue through analyses of additional samples collected in the fall of 2012. Water chemistry, algae, zooplankton and fish were sampled weekly. For comparative analysis, the Oneida database was updated and checked and five new or updated datapackages are now available on line through the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (listed below). Graduate student Amy Hetherington completed her Masters defense in fall 2012 on the hydrodynamics model needed to address the interactions between lake physics; climate change and invasive species (see publications). Involvement with the Global Lake Ecological Observatory Network continued with Amy Hetherington participating in web design and analyses, including publication of a review on sensor technology. A survey of Oneida Lake mollusks was completed. The Cornell Field Station web site was updated and additional education material on Oneida Lake completed. We are experimenting with making underwater video footage available through the web as well. We supported three interns during the summer of 2012 (Jonathan Hunn, Sarah Newman and Jaqueline Wu) working on mussels, website/outreach, and bluegreen algae blooms. PARTICIPANTS: The following individuals were involved with this project during the first year: PI Lars Rudstam, coPI Rebecca Schneider and James R. Jackson, Cornell University Department of Natural Resources Graduate Student Amy Hetherington, Natural Resources, Cornell University Undergraduate student interns: Jonathan Hunn, Sarah Hutchinson, Jackeline Wu and Sarah Newman. Vadim Karatayev, University of Buffalo. Postodoctoral Associate: James Watkins. Technical personnel: Kristen Holeck, Christopher Hotaling. Collaborators: Gail Steinhart, Mann Library Cornell University Alexander Karatayev, Luyba Burlakova, Buffalo State College. TARGET AUDIENCES: The Oneida Lake website targets local schools K-12 in the watershed as well as interested general public. Information for this group was updated. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.

Impacts
Clearance rates experiments at different temperatures showed that the new invasive, the quagga mussel, filtered at higher rates in 2 and 4 C whereas the zebra mussel filtered at higher rates at 20C. Mussel densities in the lake were over 24 g/m2 (shell free dry weight) and dominated by quagga mussels. Combining density and clearance rates show that the mussels can filter over 1.6 times the volume of the lake each day with higher filtering rates during the spring than in previous years (due to dominance of quagga mussels). This is affecting algae and water clarity increased in 2012. Silica is not being depleted at the same rates as in past years indicating lower diatom blooms. Analysis of climate change scenarios showed that Oneida Lake in 2010-2011 was already at the temperatures predicted to be present in the mid century. Five datapackages were completed on Oneida Lake in 2012 and are available through the Knowledge Network for Biocomplexity (http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb): Rudstam, L. G. 2012. Limnological data and depth profile from Oneida Lake, New York, 1975-2011, Rudstam, L. G. and J. R. Jackson. 2012. Ice cover data for Oneida and Cazenovia Lakes, New York, 1826-2012. Rudstam, L. G. and J. R. Jackson. 2012. Walleye abundance and length at age in Oneida Lake, NY (1957-2011). Rudstam, L. G. and J. R. Jackson. 2012. Yellow perch abundance and length at age in Oneida Lake, New York, 1957-2011. Rudstam, L. G. and J. R. Jackson. 2011. Gill net survey of fishes of Oneida Lake, New York, 1957 - 2010. Rudstam, L. G. and J. R. Jackson. 2011. Bottom trawl surveys from Oneida Lake, NY, 1958 - 2010.

Publications

  • Hetherington, A.L., R.S. Schneider, L.G. Rudstam, M. Baran, M., and M.T. Walter. 2011. Controlling climate change consequences on catchments through canopy cover. Pages 1-9 in 2011 American Water Resources Association Spring Specialty Conference Proceedings. The American Water Resources Association: Middleburg, Virginia.
  • Hetherington, A. L. 2013. Modeling climate change impacts on the thermodynamics of Oneida Lake: applications of a dynamic reservoir simulation model. M.Sc. Cornell University Ithaca, NY.
  • Hetherington, A.L., R.F. Brown, A. George, A., and S.R. Villamizar. November 2011. Freshwater Advanced Aquatic Sensor Workshop: Sensors, Platforms, and Data Management. ASLO Bulletin 20:82.