Acronyms
CWQG – Canadian Water Quality Guideline
DO – Dissolved Oxygen
DOC – Dissolved Organic Carbon
HESL – Hutchinson Environmental Sciences Limited
LPP – Lake Partner Program
MECP – Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks
McKLPOA – McKenzie Lake Property Owners Association
MVWHDO – Mean Volume-Weighted Hypolimnetic Dissolved Oxygen NE – Northeast
NW – Northwest
PWQO – Provincial Water Quality Objective
SE – Southeast
TP – Total Phosphorus
Glossary
Acid precipitation: Precipitation with a pH lower than 5.0, which is the value produced when naturally occurring carbon dioxide, sulphate and nitrogen oxides dissolve into water droplets in clouds. Acidification or increased acidity may be caused naturally by gases and aerosols ejected by a volcanic eruption or by human-made emissions (burning of fossil fuels) into the atmosphere. The effects of acidification on vegetation, soils and surface waters are dependent upon the form of acid precipitation (acid mist tends to coat leaves and, therefore, has more severe side affects to vegetation than acid rain, which washes rapidly from plant surfaces but, instead, may have serious side affects to the soil), and the pH and natural buffering of the soil and surface water into which it falls.
Algal blooms: A sudden growth of algae in an aquatic ecosystem. It can occur naturally in spring or early summer when primary production exceeds consumption by aquatic herbivores. Algal blooms, which are a characteristic symptom of eutrophication, may also be induced by nutrient enrichment of waters due to pollution.
Alkalinity, alkaline: In freshwater, alkalinity is mainly composed of bicarbonates, carbonates and hydroxides, and is generally measured by titration with acid to a fixed end point. Aquatic systems with a pH level greater than 7.
Ambient temperature: The dry-bulb temperature prevailing in the surrounding air.
Anoxic: The condition of oxygen deficiency or absence of oxygen. Anoxic sediments and anoxic bottom waters are commonly produced where there is a deficiency of oxygen, owing to very high organic productivity, and a lack of oxygen replenishment to the water or sediment, as in the case of stagnation or stratification (layering) of the body of water.
Bacteria: Fecal bacteria (Escherichia coli) measurements indicate the possible presence of disease causing bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms, which can cause other impacts such as cloudy water and unpleasant odours.
Benthic zone, benthos: In shallow regions, where the benthic zone is well lit, the zone is referred to as the benthic littoral region and it supports some of the world’s most productive ecosystems. Benthos, in freshwater, is the collection of organisms attached to or resting on the bottom sediments and those which bore or burrow into the sediments.
Biological indicators, indicator species: A species that is of narrow ecological amplitude with respect to one or more environmental factors and that is, when present, therefore, indicative of a particular environmental condition or set of conditions. For example, fish species and many aquatic invertebrates vary in the amount of dissolved oxygen they require and those species present in a body of water provide an indication of the extent to which the water is contaminated with organic material.
Brainworm disease: The adult brainworm (Parelaphostrongylus tenuis) is a roundworm or nematode normally found in the venous sinuses and subdural space of the brain of white-tailed deer in eastern North America. Moose, elk, caribou, reindeer, mule deer, sheep, goats and guinea pigs are susceptible to infection. However, they are abnormal hosts, and in them the worm frequently causes cerebrospinal nematodiasis, a disease of the nervous system.
Cervids (Cervidae): A family of browsing or grazing animals, with 16 genus and 43 species throughout the world. Usually, antlers are present only in the male, with the exception of the caribou, which have antlers on both the male and female. Most species are gregarious, living in herds with elaborate social organization.
Channelization: Is the structural alteration made to a stream's channel in order to speed the flow of water and thus prevent it from flooding. Channelization usually involves cutting off meanders to straighten a stream; the shorter straight channel will have a steeper gradient than before and its increased velocity will transport more water perhaps enough to prevent flooding in an area.
Chlorophyll a: Is a variant, in plants, of chlorophyll, the green pigment that participates in photosynthesis by absorbing radian energy from the sun for carbon-dioxide fixation. Chlorophyll a is used to measure, in aqueous solution, the primary productivity of ecosystems. The chlorophyll content of the community occupying a given area can form an index of the area’s productivity.
Cold water fish: Species that are best adapted for or prefer, or usually occur at, water temperatures less than 19°C.
Conductivity: Is the ability of a solution to conduct an electrical current due to the presence of dissolved salts (ions), which is also known as salinity or total dissolved solids.
Coniferous, conifers: Cone-bearing trees or gymsosperms (e.g., “softwoods”) such as pines, spruces and firs.
Deciduous: Applied to trees that shed their leaves seasonally; deciduous trees are generally Angiosperms (e.g., “hardwoods”) such as oaks and maples.
Decomposition: The breakdown of constituent nutrients by decomposers in the natural environment, some of which are used by the decomposer (e.g., heterotroph which feeds on detritus) and some of which is released to be recycled into the ecosystem (the final stages of the “nutrient-cycle”).
Dioxins: A member of a range of about 300 compounds produced as by-products of certain industrial chemical processes and also by the incomplete incineration of chlorinated hydrocarbon compounds, especially polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
Dissolved oxygen level: The concentration of oxygen held in solution in water, which is usually measured in mg/L (sometimes in μg/m3) or expressed as a percentage of the saturation value for a given water temperature. The solubility of oxygen varies inversely with temperature; a rise in temperature creates a decline in the availability of dissolved oxygen. The dissolved oxygen level is an important first indicator of water quality. In general, oxygen levels decline as pollution increases.
Diurnal: It applies to species that are active only in daylight.
Ecological community types: A specific assemblage of species, which may have similar habitat requirements including soil type (sand, silt or clay), pH levels, ambient temperature, slope condition, and moisture regime, living together at a particular site or at various sites, with similar habitat characteristics, found across the landscape. These ecological community types, or groups of organisms, are often indicative of a particular environment or set of environmental conditions and are, therefore, used an “ecological indicators”.
Ecosystem: A discrete unit that consist of living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) parts, interacting to form a stable system. Fundamental concepts include the flow of energy via food chains and food webs, and the cycling of nutrients biogeochemically. Ecosystem principles can be applied at all scales from a pond, to a lake, or to the whole planet.
Effluents: An outflow from a sewer or sewage system and/or a discharge of liquid waste, as from a factory or nuclear plant.
Emergent aquatic plants: The aqueous vegetation which stand predominantly higher than the water surface, or are partially submersed in water.
Epilimnium: The upper, warmer circulating water in a thermally stratified lake during the summer. Usually, it forms a layer that is thin compared to the hypoliminion.
Euphotic Zone: The upper, illuminated zone of aquatic ecosystems, which is above the compensation level (the compensation level is the depth at which light penetration in aquatic ecosystems is so reduced that oxygen production by photosynthesis just balances oxygen consumption by respiration, and, therefore, the zone of effective photosynthesis). In freshwater systems, the euphotic zone is divided into the littoral (shallow edge) and limnetic (deeper water) zones.
Eutrophication, eutrophic: the process of nutrient enrichment, usually by nitrates or phosphates, in aquatic systems. It occurs naturally over geological time, but may be accelerated by human activities such as sewage disposal or land drainage, which are sometimes termed “cultural eutrophication”. The rapid increase in nutrient levels stimulates algal blooms. On death, bacterial decomposition of the excess algae may seriously deplete oxygen levels, which are especially critical in thermally stratified lakes, since the decaying algal material typically sinks to the hypoliminum—bottom layers, where oxygen replenishment is impossible. The extremely low levels of oxygen concentrations lead to fish deaths, which create a further oxygen demand, which leads to further deaths.
Exotics, invasive: An introduced, non-native species.
Floodplain: The part of a river valley that is made of unconsolidated, river-borne sediment and is periodically flooded. It is built up of relatively coarse debris left behind as a stream channel migrates laterally, and of relatively fine sediment deposited when bankfull discharge is exceeded. A floodplain is a relatively flat region flanking most streams and formed by deposition of finer grained sediments during periodic flooding of the stream waters
Fossil fuels: All deposits of organic material that are dug from the ground and are capable of being burnt for fuel such as coal, oil and gas.
Furans: One of a range of polychlorinated dibenzofurans that are produced from the incomplete incineration of chlorinated hydrocarbons, especially polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs); severe exposure to furans can cause liver damage and liver cancer.
Genetic hybridization: An individual animal that results from a cross between parents of differing genotypes—the genetic constitution of an organism, as opposed to its physical appearance. Strictly, most individuals in an outbreeding population are hybrids.
Grasses and sedges: Grass family (Poaceae) species have hollow stems, which are jointed and round with leaves in 2 vertical rows and their fruit is a grain. Sedge family (Cyperaceae) species have solid stems, which are not jointed and usually 3-sided with leaves in 3 vertical rows and their fruit is an achene.
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Forest Region: A forested ecological community type, which is predominantly the northern deciduous-evergreen “mixed” forest region of Ontario.
Heavy metals: Metals that have a density greater than 5 g/cm3, such as copper and zinc; some species have shown a tolerance to aquatic or soil contaminated by metals.
Herbicide: A chemical substance, which suppresses, and is usually designed to eliminate, plant growth; it may be selective or a non-selective weed killer.
Hibernation: A strategy for surviving winter cold that is characteristic of some mammals. The metabolic rate is reduced to a minimum and the animal enters a deep sleep, surviving on food reserves stored as fat in the body during the favourable summer period.
Humic, humus: Dark-brown decomposed organic substances that are aerobic—requires oxygen—for part of the year.
Hypolimnium, hypolimnetic waters: The lower, cooler non-circulating water in a thermally stratified lake during the summer. If the thermocline is below the compensation level (see euphotic zone), the dissolved oxygen supply of the hypoliminion depletes gradually; therefore, replenishment by photosynthesis and by contact with the atmosphere is prevented.
Limiting factor, limiting nutrient: Any environmental condition or a set of conditions (nutrient levels) that approaches most nearly the limits of tolerance (maximum or minimum) for a given organism; an aquatic system needs a critical minimum of certain nutrients, such as phosphorus, to function properly.
Littoral zone: The shallow-water regions of aquatic ecosystems in which rooted plants occur and light penetrates to the lakebed.
Macro-invertebrates (benthic): An invertebrate with a body length greater than 2 mm.
MAPLE: The Mutual Association for the Protection of Lake Environments is a non-profit environmental organization incorporated in 1987 to promote the preservation of the natural lake environments. Through the maintenance of existing natural shorelands and wetlands, it promotes the restoration and enhancement of waterfronts by encouraging natural regeneration and initiating re-vegetation of shoreland.
Mercury: It naturally occurs in trace amounts in the air, water, rocks, soil, plant and animal matter, and can be leached out by the acidity in the water. Naturally occurring mercury anomalies are associated with fault zones in the bedrock, and ground water seepages in streams are a source of mercury entering the lakes.
Mesotrophic: Applied to waters having levels of plant nutrients intermediate between those of oligotrophic and eutrophic waters.
Microhabitat: A precise location, with specific or preferred environmental characteristics, within a habitat where an individual species is normally found (e.g., within a deciduous oak woodland habitat woodlice may be found in the microhabitat beneath the bark of rotting wood).
Mineral soils: A soil composed, principally, of mineral matter, the characteristics of which are determined more by the mineral than by the organic content.
Nocturnal: During the night-time; applied to a type of circadian rhythm—a biological clock that is reset by cues (e.g., dawn) from the environment—in which the organism performs its main activities at night.
Nutrient cycle: A biogeochemical cycle, in which inorganic nutrients move through the soil, living organisms, air and water, or through some of these (e.g., nitrate or nitrite—forms of nitrogen); minerals, such as potassium and magnesium, are involved in the cycle only as sources of replenishment.
Nutrient enrichment/loading: See “eutrophication”.
Nymph, larva: The stage in the lifecycle of an animal, during which it is motile and capable of feeding itself, that occurs after hatching from the egg and prior to the reorganizations involved in becoming adult. The appearance of the larval form differs markedly from that of an adult of the same species. The term “larva” is applied loosely to fish, amphibians and certain insects, although the term “nymph” is frequently applied to insect larvae.
Oligotrophic: Refers to nutrient-poor aquatic ecosystems with low primary-productivity. Typically oligotrophic lakes are deep, with the hypoliminion much more extensive than the epilimnion. The low nutrient content means that plankton blooms are rare and littoral plants are scarce. The low organic content means that dissolved oxygen levels are high. By comparison to eutrophic lakes, oligotrophic lakes are considered geologically young, or little modified by weathering and erosion products.
Omnivorous: A heterotroph—an organism that is unable to manufacture its own food, which feeds on both plants and animals, and thus operates at a range of trophic level.
Optimal Habitat: Optimum environmental conditions needed, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen concentrations, and pH levels, which tend to maximize species’ potential success at survival.
Organic soils: Soil with a high content of organic matter and water; the term usually refers to peat or peatlands.
Over-harvesting: The overexploitation of plants or animals.
Oxygen and Temperature Profiles: Measurements of both dissolved oxygen and temperature taken at set intervals from the surface to the bottom of a water body. Pelagic species: Organisms that inhabit the open water.
Pesticide: A chemical substance, which suppresses, and is usually designed to eliminate, insect growth; it may be selective or a non-selective insect killer.
pH: A value on a scale of 0-14, which gives a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a medium or solution. A neutral medium has a pH of 7; acidic media has pH values of less than 7; and alkaline media of more than 7. The lower the pH the more acidic is the medium, and the higher the pH the more alkaline is the medium.
Phosphorus (P): An element that is an essential nutrient for all living organisms, but its availability is limited in aqueous environments, which is, therefore, why phosphorous is a “limiting nutrient/factor” in aquatic ecosystems.
Photosynthesis: The process in green plants, and certain other organisms, where carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.
Phytoplankton: The plant plankton and primary producers of aquatic ecosystems, comprising mainly of diatoms in cool waters, and dinoflagellates (protozoans) that are “heterotrophs” (grazers) but are closely allied to brown algae and diatoms found in warm waters.
Point source discharge: A situation where a large quantity of pollutants is emitted from a single source such as a smokestack, a volcano, or a sewage outfall.
Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs): One of a range of compounds first synthesized in 1881 and manufactured in 1929, and used mainly as liquid insulators in heavy-duty electrical transformers. They were detected in the environment in 1966, and associated with reduced reproduction success in marine birds and mammals; they are also believed to compromise the immune system in animals. Restrictions on their use were imposed in North America and Europe in the 1970s, but they continue to cause contamination during the disposal of old equipment-containing PCBs into the ground and their natural persistence (don’t break down easily) in the environment.
Precambrian Shield: The Canadian Shield is a large geographic area in eastern and central Canada, composed of bare rock dating to the era (between 4.5 billion and 540 million years ago). It is also called the Precambrian Shield, or Laurentian Shield, or Laurentian Plateau. The current layout of the Shield is one of very thin soil lying on top of bedrock, with many bare outcrops. This arrangement was caused by glaciation during the last ice age, which covered the shield and scraped the rock clean in doing so. The multitude of rivers and lakes in the entire region is caused by the watersheds of the area being so young and in a state of sorting themselves out. The shield was originally an area of very large mountains and much volcanic activity, but over the millennia the area was eroded to its current much flatter appearance. Precambrian rocks (granite and quartz based) outcrop extensively in shield areas such as northern Ontario. The shield is one of the world’s richest areas of mineral ore; it is filled with substantial deposits of nickel, gold, silver and copper.
Predation: The interaction between species populations in which one organism, the predator, obtains energy (as food) by consuming, usually killing, another, the prey.
Primary productivity: The rate at which biomass is produced by photosynthetic autotrophs (mainly green plants) in the form of organic substances some of which are used as food materials. The primary production of an ecosystem is the amount of organic material accumulated.
Provincial Water Quality Objectives (PWQO): PWQO are numerical and narrative ambient surface water quality criteria, applicable to all waters of the province (e.g., lakes, rivers and streams) except those areas specifically designated such as areas influenced by the Ministry of Energy and Environment (MOEE) approved point source discharges.
Recruitment: A measure of the number of fish that enter a class during some time period, such as the spawning class or fishing-size class.
Relative abundance: An index of fish population abundance used to compare fish populations from year to year. This does not measure the actual numbers of fish, but shows changes in the population over time.
Secchi disc: A disc used in a simple method for measuring the transparency of water. The disc is 20 cm across and divided into alternated black and white quadrants. It is lowered into water on a line until the difference between the black and white areas cease to be visible, at which point the depth is recorded. This procedure provides a convenient method for comparing the transparency of water at different sites.
Sediment: Material derived from pre-existing rock, from biogenic sources, or precipitated by chemical processes, and deposited at or near the Earth’s surface.
Sedimentary rock: Rock (e.g., limestone) formed by the decomposition and compression of mineral and rock particles, but often including material of organic (carbon/calcium (cation ions) based) origin. Lakebeds comprised of sedimentary rock have the ability to neutralize acid precipitation.
Sedimentation: Particles of organic and mineral substances, which settle out in solution.
Soil attenuation: The ability of the soil to absorb and retain precipitation—the infiltration capacity of soil; the greater the attenuation the less likelihood of flooding occurring within the watershed. Hydric soils—wetlands, are a great example of soils with a high attenuation or absorbing ability.
Spawning: Fish reproduction, which is species-specific (e.g., different environmental conditions, such as temperature or available habitat that are required to initiate reproduction in different species).
Stocking: To artificially increase fish populations, to stimulate recruitment success and increase sport fishing opportunities, by adding individuals, either reared in a hatchery or transported from another freshwater environment, to the local aquatic community.
Stream profile: Includes the point of origin of the stream called the head, the point of termination called the mouth, and a decreasing gradient of the stream channel towards the mouth; the slope of the land and stream channel is greatest at the head and smallest at the mouth.
Substrate: Any object or material upon which an organism grows or to which an organism is attached; an underlying layer of gravel, sand or other substances found on the lakebed.
Surface and storm water runoff: The flow across the land (overland flow) of water, which accumulates on the surface when the rainfall rate exceeds the infiltration capacity of soil—attenuation. The rate of runoff is determined by the attenuation or the infiltration capacity of the soil, which is affected by several factors such as the soil type, presence and type of vegetation, and impermeable surfaces (clay lids, roads, fields, buildings, etc.).
Thermocline: Generally, a gradient of temperature change, but applied more particularly to the zone of rapid temperature change between the warm surface waters (epilimnion) and cooler deep waters (hypolimnion) in a thermally stratified lake in summer.
Torpor: A state of adaptive hypothermia used by endotherms in order to save energy. In torpor, the body temperature of an animal may fall to within 1°C of the environmental temperature, which in some cases may itself be at about or even just below freezing. All metabolic processes slow down to as little as one-twentieth of the normal rate. A state of torpor is entered during hibernation and when resources are insufficient to allow the maintenance of body temperature.
Total nitrogen (TN): Is a measure of all combined forms of nitrogen.
Total organic carbon (TOC): Consists of both dissolved and organic carbon, and is composed of humic substances and degraded plant and animal materials.
Total phosphorus (TP): Is a measure of the combined amounts of all forms of phosphorus.
TN:TP ratio: Is used to determine which element is limiting the growth of primary producers.
Tributary streams: Are the smaller streams, which collect materials, and supply water to the main stream or river in the area.
Tropic status: Refers to the rate of nutrient supply and productivity of a system.
Turbidity: Is a measure of water clarity (i.e., how far down the water column light can penetrate). Upland Zone: The upland zone is the periphery of a lake’s riparian zone.
Upper crown: The individual trees, or clumps of trees, which stand predominantly higher than the top of the continuous canopy—the part of the woodland or forest community that is formed by the trees, of many forests.
Useable habitat: Environmental conditions, such as temperature, dissolved oxygen concentrations, and pH levels, which are able to maintain a species’ potential success at survival.
Warm water fish: Species that are best adapted for or prefer, or usually occur at, water temperatures greater than 25°C.
Water quality parameters: A measurable and/or observable environmental variable of water quality such as water clarity, pH and temperature.
Watershed (catchment area or drainage basin): The area from which a surface watercourse or a groundwater system derives its water; catchments are separated by divides—the boundary between separate catchment areas, which are usually marked topographically by high ground. A watershed is an area of land that is drained by a distinct stream or river system and is separated from other watersheds by ridge top boundaries.
Wetlands: A general term applied to open water habitats and seasonally or permanently waterlogged land areas including lakes, rivers, marshes, swamps, bogs and fens. Wetland habitats, such as marshes, swamps, fens and bogs, are among the most vulnerable to destruction since they can be drained and reclaimed for agriculture or forestry, drained for pest control, or modified for water supply, flood control, hydroelectric power schemes, waste disposal, etc.
Wetland complex: Many areas of Ontario contain closely spaced wetlands that vary in size from a fraction of a hectare to several hundred hectares. The density of wetlands per unit of areal landscape may be so complex that delineation of the wetland units into individually recognized wetlands would not be an ecologically or functionally sound process. Wetland complexes are commonly related in a functional way, and the wildlife in the area of the complex is dependent upon the presence of the entire complex of wetlands. Complexes are separated wetlands, which are only connected by surface waters or ground water with distances no greater than 0.75 km north of the Canadian Shield or 1.25 km south of the Shield in Ontario.
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