With climate change and warming temperatures, ice cover duration in lakes across the world is becoming shorter. Duration of ice cover is tightly linked to oxygen concentrations at lake bottoms, with longer periods of ice cover associated with lower oxygen concentrations, which are detrimental for biological processes and food web interactions. I researched how this decrease in ice cover duration was influencing oxygen dynamics in lakes in Pennsylvania that were prone to these patterns. I analyzed daily photos of the lake’s surface to determine presence or absence of ice cover over two winters and compared these with sensor data that measured oxygen at the bottom of the lake throughout the winter. In both winters, there were two distinct periods of intermittent ice cover, but the oxygen concentrations at the lake bottom differed between the winters due to fluctuations in ice cover. In 2018, ice cover fluctuated less and was more consistent, leading to faster oxygen depletion and overall lower oxygen concentrations at the lake bottom, compared to 2019. Understanding these oxygen responses to fluctuating ice cover can allow for prediction of mass fish kills and greenhouse gas production that occur when low oxygen concentrations are reached. This undergraduate research experience has been a good foundation for learning field work, analytical skills, and writing which will be useful for my plans to continue in lake research in graduate school.
Author: Alyssa Cassidy
Faculty Advisors: Craig Williamson, Biology and Erin Overholt, Biology
Graduate Student Advisor: Rachel Pilla, Biology
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