Lake Dynamics ~ LDyNE
"Lake Dynamics in Nearshore Ecosystems (LDyNE)" is based on lake physics and the movement of water as a function of wind velocity and density gradients in lakes (ie., temperature profile) - and how this affects the distribution and abundance of organisms and their food webs. It provides a means of mapping physically active areas where lake dynamics sweep substrate regions in and around thermoclines.
This is a new and exciting area of research at Harkness. Cooperative research projects are being developed between ecologists at U of Toronto / Harkness and applied mathematicians at the University of Waterloo ( Environmental and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Group) and the University of Toronto (Environmental Fluid Dynamics lab - University of Toronto at Scarborough).
The first steps in this effort can be seen at Kevin Lamb's website where you can view two video clips of lake dynamics on an east west transect across Lake Opeongo. Check out how: 1) the internal wave dynamics break along the shores with a change in slope; 2) velocity and direction change at any one vertical profile, and 3) bathymetry deflects dynamics that in turn generates interesting site specific lake behaviour. Video clips 6 and 7 are located on Kevin Lamb's website
Background
Lake dynamics and its effect on spatial structure in lake ecosystems have always been of interest to aquatic ecologists. In the past, lake dynamics were investigated by sustituting details in one lake for spatial coverage of lakes of different size as a means of capturing through a fetch parameter what was occurring dynamically within lakes. This has been a successful research approach that has greatly improved understanding of thermocline formation and depth, mud deposition boundary location and zonation of macrophytes to name a few.
In oceanography, physical models at different scales of resolution are being used to better understand population connectivity in invertebrates and fish. Dynamic physical processes in the marine environment, when linked to the distribution and ecology of populations, are developing entirely new insights itno recruitment mechanisms of marine populations.
Linking dynamic processes in lakes with the distribution and recruitment of fish has shown the importance of understanding coastal water movement in recruitment success of walleye on Lake Erie. Dynamics of hyporheic flow improves understanding of redd formation and function in salmonines. Across spatial scales, dynamic models of water movement in lakes hold great promise for improving our understanding of organismal and food web ecology in a moving medium.
Back To Aquatic Projects.