Horseshoe Lake Benthic Macroinvertebrate Report

Horseshoe Lake Benthic Macroinvertebrate Report

Brendan Martin, Jide Sayomi, Adam Alaimo

Horseshoe Lake Property Owners Association

Erin McGauley, Fleming College School of Environment and Resource Sciences

Melanie Logan, Fleming College School of Environment and Resource Sciences

2019

Online

Haliburton County

Horseshoe Lake is located approximately 10 kilometers northeast of the town of Minden, Ontario. The lake acts as a reservoir for the Trent/Severn Waterway and has had a sizable cottage community along its shores for many generations. From 2017-2018 the Horseshoe Lake Property Owners Association (HLPOA) in conjunction with U-Links Centre for Community Based Research has partnered with post-secondary students to analyze the benthic macroinvertebrate communities along the lake shoreline. These organisms are identified by order, a classification of life similar to that of genus and species, with each order having a different level of sensitivity to organic pollution. The results of this initial phase of the study indicate that there is probably some organic pollution present in the lake, but the source or sources of this pollution and whether or not there are any trends present is not yet known. This phase of the project will be used as a baseline for future years of sampling and lays the framework for how future studies should be conducted.

Fleming College