Rev Roger, Flyer #5

[B_M_W]

Maybe we should have you look at our local pond. It frightens me a little.

Is it a dark oily color with little or no vegitation and/or massive algal blooms during the summer, with a stink of sufur for most of the year?

[Michal]

No. Kind of a greeny color with algae blooms during the summer. And its got garbage. And people pee in there. It really pisses me off, I mean, I learned to fish in that pond (live bait only, no lures).

[B_M_W]

No. Kind of a greeny color with algae blooms during the summer. And its got garbage. And people pee in there. It really pisses me off, I mean, I learned to fish in that pond (live bait only, no lures).

It sounds like your biggest problem is Eutrophication, usually indicated by the large algal blooms durring the summer.

[Michal]

Its not really bad, and I pick garbage out of it when I can.

The bullfrogs seem to be doing alright, but I haven't heard anything from the peepers (baby frogs), I haven't seen a salamander in the creek that feeds it, haven't seen a crayfish either.

[deet]

The problem is, Im not all that INTERESTED in politics. In fact, I hate it. But, I know it is important to know what shit is going down, so I pay attention.

nobody is interested in politics. in fact, if they are they might be insane.

sry if i offend, it was more of a blanket aimed-at-teh-world statment.

deet,
has stopped using 'backspace'

[Felix]

Ah, like adapting the rule of never writing with pencils to posting?

Meh, I'm passingly interested in how people run the world, if only because of my vested self-interest.  I intend to cast votes and educate myself.  That's the best i've got for the world right now.

[deet]

I almost voted once, but then I tried to get the policy books for the parties.

liek jumping through fuckin hoops... I don't think anybody knows what they're voting for

[Baron Von Stevenstein]

im not old enough to vote

[Michal]

Nor I.

[Michal]

No. Kind of a greeny color with algae blooms during the summer. And its got garbage. And people pee in there. It really pisses me off, I mean, I learned to fish in that pond (live bait only, no lures).

It sounds like your biggest problem is Eutrophication, usually indicated by the large algal blooms durring the summer.

And its a man-made pond. I talked to a guy who helped build it.

Edit: Doesn't eutrophication take hundreds of years?

[AFK]

Not if you've got runoff containing fertilizers going into the pond.

RWHN,
Has a degree In Environmental Policy and has one of those nature strings too.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Yes.

Which is why it should be privately owned.

UNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!11!!11

BMW,

Knows what Roger means when he says he feels like laughing until screaming.

TROOF.

[B_M_W]

Not if you've got runoff containing fertilizers going into the pond.

RWHN,
Has a degree In Environmental Policy and has one of those nature strings too.

Right. Eutrophication IS the NATURAL process of water "turning into land", of sediments and organic matter filling lakes, changing to marsh, and to possibly dryer conditions, a process which does take hundreds of years. But this process is often accelerated by humans, through the introduction of nitrogen fertilizers to the system. This increase in nutrients causes increased vegitation growth during the summer, usually accompanied by large algal blooms. In the fall, the vegitation dies off and accumulates in the benthos, the bottom of the water body. Decomposition occurs during the winter, to the point where the water oxygen suppy is depleted by the bacteria. Fish kills occur; you have them gasping at the surface for air around the edges where there is less ice. Anaerobic bacteria take over the decomposition process. In the spring, you may smell a sulfury, bad odor around the pond; thats the waste products of anaerobic respiration, methane and sulfur oxide. The decomposing matter builds up, because anaerobic breakdown takes longer, the lake gets shallower, soon there are no more fish, and the water takes on a very oily, organic look with low visibilty.

The primary cause of all this is, of course, non-point source nitrogen seepage from fertilizers, either from farming or from developments (i.e., lawns).

Short term fix: Drop an aeration device in the water in early spring, and again in the late fall, to enhance oxygen concentrations and speed up aerobic decomposition. Repeate this every year.

Long term fix: This one is much more difficult, because it means getting people involved and interested in saving this pond.

      Step 1) Reduce fertilizer applications in the area. Especially on slopes, and especially around the edge of the pond.

      Step 2) Plant riparian vegitation covering as much of the littoral zone as possible, that is, the area of the pond where sunlight reaches the benthos, the bottom. Planting lawn up to the edge is the worst thing anyone could do, ecologicaly and chemically. Properties should have 30 ft buffer zones between the lawn and the water, composed of wetland vegitation (cattails, irises, bullrushes, NOT purple loosestrife; basically, any native wetland vegitation). Things such as docks and boat houses should be minimized as much as possible. The vegitation filtrates and holds the runnoff, as well as providing quality habitat for many bird and amphibian species.

Making a "lake awareness" group is a good first step to all this. Get people involved!

*sigh* Man, that was a mouthful. Get me goin', and Im like a runnaway train.

[B_M_W]

Its not really bad, and I pick garbage out of it when I can.

The bullfrogs seem to be doing alright, but I haven't heard anything from the peepers (baby frogs), I haven't seen a salamander in the creek that feeds it, haven't seen a crayfish either.

Peepers? You prolly mean spring peepers and/or chorus frogs (Pseudacris crucifer and triseriata), which call in the early spring, right after the water is unfrozen. Or you could mean the American toad (Bufo americana) which has a long high trill that can continue on for sometimes 20 seconds. Those species are all done breeding now, so you shouldn't here much outta them. This is, like you observed, the time when the bullfrogs start calling, and also greenfrogs. You're not likely to find many salamander species in creeks though, they usually like more slowly moving water in larger rivers like mudpuppies (Necturus maculosus) or in lakes and ponds, many ephemeral (short lived), surrounded by forest, which would be most of the other species.

Im suprised you are not finding crayfish though. They usually have a higher organic polutants tolerance, around a six out of ten on the hilsenhoff biotic index. Unless they simply are not able to get there, because of some sort of barrier...

More questions: Does this pond have both an inlet and a outlet? What is the surrounding area like? How deep is the pond at its deepest point, and what percent is littoral (just estimate)? How much of lakefront (pondfront?) is developed for: Agriculture? Residential? or is in more natural state as: forest? wetland? What is the general substrate: sand? Clay? detrius (organic matter)?

And another question: How receptive would the people in the area be to a lake revitilization program?

[Michal]

Gimme a minute.