Grace Lake Benthic Assessment - 2022
Title
Grace Lake Benthic Assessment - 2022
Host Organization
Grace Lake Association, Barb Matthews
Supervising Faculty
Tom Whillans
Reference Number
4934
Date
April 2023
Location of Document
Online
Area
Haliburton County
Subject
Benthic Biomonitoring
Abstract
This community-based research project focuses on evaluating the baseline composition of benthic macroinvertebrate communities in Grace Lake as part of the Woodlands and Waterways EcoWatch initiative. Benthic macroinvertebrates, small aquatic organisms inhabiting the sediment at the bottom of water bodies, serve as indicators of water quality due to their sensitivity to environmental stressors. The project involved sampling benthic macroinvertebrates and assessing water quality at three sites in Grace Lake. The identified invertebrates were categorized into 27 groups, and various indices were calculated to assess the lake's ecological condition. The results indicate that Grace Lake exhibits typical conditions compared to other lakes in the Haliburton Region. The ongoing data collection will contribute to establishing a five-year baseline dataset and enable the detection of any future negative trends in water quality or ecological integrity.
Publisher
Trent University
Files
Collection
Reference
2023, Grace Lake Benthic Assessment - 2022, Trent University