title: Brooktrout Lake case study: biotic recovery from acid deposition 20 years after the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments.
abstract: The Adirondack Mountain region is an extensive geographic area (26,305 km(2)) in upstate New York where acid deposition has negatively affected water resources for decades and caused the extirpation of local fish populations. The water quality decline and loss of an established brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis [Mitchill]) population in Brooktrout Lake were reconstructed from historical information dating back to the late 1880s. Water quality and biotic recovery were documented in Brooktrout Lake in response to reductions of S deposition during the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s and provided a unique scientific opportunity to re-introduce fish in 2005 and examine their critical role in the recovery of food webs affected by acid deposition. Using C and N isotope analysis of fish collagen and state hatchery feed as well as Bayesian assignment tests of microsatellite genotypes, we document in situ brook trout reproduction, which is the initial phase in the restoration of a preacidification food web structure in Brooktrout Lake. Combined with sulfur dioxide emissions reductions promulgated by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments, our results suggest that other acid-affected Adirondack waters could benefit from careful fish re-introduction protocols to initiate the ecosystem reconstruction of important components of food web dimensionality and functionality.
authors.affiliation: Division of Water , New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 625 Broadway, Albany, New York 12233, United States.
authors.forename: James W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Sutherland
authors.forename: Frank W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Acker
authors.forename: Jay A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bloomfield
authors.forename: Charles W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Boylen
authors.forename: Donald F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Charles
authors.forename: Robert A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Daniels
authors.forename: Lawrence W
authors.initials: LW
authors.lastname: Eichler
authors.forename: Jeremy L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Farrell
authors.forename: Robert S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Feranec
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Hare
authors.forename: Sharon L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Kanfoush
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Preall
authors.forename: Scott O
authors.initials: SO
authors.lastname: Quinn
authors.forename: H Chandler
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Rowell
authors.forename: William F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Schoch
authors.forename: William H
authors.initials: WH
authors.lastname: Shaw
authors.forename: Clifford A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Siegfried
authors.forename: Timothy J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Sullivan
authors.forename: David A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Winkler
authors.forename: Sandra A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Nierzwicki-Bauer
mesh_terms: D000143:Acids / Q000009:adverse effects*; D000818:Animals; D052918:Environmental Restoration and Remediation / Q000379:methods*; D020387:Food Chain; D060106:Lakes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009518:New York; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D014337:Trout; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D000143:Acids; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide