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Communication at the NABS Annual meeting, Keystone, 2000
(441) EFFECTS OF CANADA GOOSE NUTRIENT ENRICHMENT AND SNAIL GRAZING ON CERATOPHYLLUM DEMERSUM AND ITS ASSOCIATED EPIPHYTES.
P.L. Brutsche and F.A. De Szalay. Department of Biological Sciences, Kent State University, Kent, OH 44242
Recent increases in Canada Goose populations and the concomitant increase in droppings is a perceived problem in areas that have migrating and residential goose populations. Nutrient enrichment has been demonstrated to increase epiphyte growth. Ceratophyllum demersum and other aquatic plants that are important substrates for grazing invertebrates may be adversely affected by the increase in epiphytic growth. We investigated the relationship between goose nutrient enrichment and the snail-epiphyte-macrophyte system. Aquaria were filled with filtered lake water. Ceratophyllum demersum and glass slides were conditioned for 2 weeks to allow for epiphytic colonization. Zero, low, and high levels of homogenized field collected Canada Goose droppings and zero, low, and high levels of Physa snails were used in a 3 X 3 factorial design experiment that was run for 4 weeks. Levels of droppings and snail additions were based on our goose population surveys and snail population literature for northeastern Ohio. Negligible chlorophyll a accumulated on glass slides, and no significant differences were detected. Diatoms dominated the epiphytic community. There were no significant differences detected in the wet weight of C. demersum. Despite fears that eutrophication by Canada geese significantly impacts lakes, this experiment detected no major effects on the snail-epiphyte-macrophyte system.
Presented at 1:00 PM on Wednesday, May 31, 2000 in Bioassessment
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