Fire and Ice: The Geoheritage of Tasmania’s Cradle Mountain–Lake St. Clair National Park

Public perceptions of mountain lake fisheries management in national parks

Because they have the potential to provide the best remaining standards of relatively unmodified landscapes, protected areas in North America (such as wilderness areas and national parks) have tremendous ecological and scientific value (Cole and Landres 1996). Although the montane ecosystems of western North America are particularly well represented in this complex of protected lands, aquatic habitats within these protected areas are often subject to management practices that are inconsistent with the goal of maintaining natural processes. The most prevalent of these practices is the introduction of salmonid fishes (such as trout) into historically fishless ecosystems to create recreational fisheries. These montane landscapes are the result of repeated glaciation during the Pleistocene epoch. The recession of glaciers 10,000 years ago created thousands of lakes, most of which were separated from downstream fish populations by impassible barriers on rivers and streams. These extensive fishless habitats were subsequently colonized by a diversity of aquatic species, many of which required fishless habitats for their persistence. Starting in the mid1800s, Euro-American settlers began introducing salmonid fishes into these lakes and streams. By the mid-1900s, these fish-stocking efforts had been largely subsumed by the various agencies responsible for the management of fish and wildlife. Trout stocking was halted in most national parks in western North America during the 1970s and 1980s (Knapp 1996; Parker and others 2001), but the practice continues in other protected areas, such as wilderness areas in the western United States managed by the US Forest Service (Landres and others 2001). These stocking programs have dramatically transformed the formerly fishless aquatic ecosystems within protected areas of western North America. For example, of the estimated 16,000 naturally fishless mountain lakes in the western US, the majority of which are located within national parks and wilderness areas, 60% of all lakes and 95% of larger, deeper lakes now contain nonnative trout (Oncorhynchus spp., Salmo spp., Salvelinus spp.) (Bahls 1992). Many of these introduced fish populations persisted even after the termination of stocking (Donald 1987; Boiano 1999). In the western US, trout are still stocked into more than 7000 mountain lakes on a regular basis, usually with the use of aircraft (Bahls 1992). The purpose of this ongoing stocking is generally not to introduce trout into the remaining fishless lakes, but instead to supplement nonnative trout populations maintained by natural reproduction or to maintain nonnative trout popuReceived 28 March 2000;: accepted 12 April 2000. *Corresponding author; e-mail: knapp@lifesci.ucsb.edu

Across the western United States, introductions of non-native fish into historically fishless mountain lakes have impacted native biota. Understanding the impacts of fish introductions is essential for conservation in Olympic National Park, a Biosphere Reserve. We reconstructed fish plantings using records dating back to 1930, followed by environmental DNA (eDNA) surveys to estimate the current distribution of fish and amphibians in 117 remote mountain lakes. We used Bayesian multiscale occupancy models to determine how lake attributes and planting history related to fish and amphibian occupancy. The most frequently detected species were Brook Trout, Rainbow Trout, Cascades Frog, and Northwestern Salamander. eDNA sampling revealed 52 lakes with amphibians only, 45 with fish and amphibians, 14 with fish only, and 6 unoccupied. Of the 53 lakes with planting records, 38 had fish eDNA detected. Fish eDNA was also detected in 21 lakes lacking planting records, which could reflect incomplete records, unauthorized plantings, and false positive detections. Of the three species planted, Cutthroat Trout had the highest failure rate and did not become established in 23 of 28 historically planted lakes. In a subset of 9 lakes sampled for up to 7 years, those with known fish and amphibian presence showed consistent eDNA detections over time. The number of times a lake was stocked was the best predictor of occupancy for Brook and Rainbow trout, while higher occupancy for Brook Trout was also associated with lower elevations, lower solar radiation, and larger lake area. We did not observe widespread negative associations between amphibian occupancy and fish presence, although there was a negative relationship between fish presence and Rough-skinned Newt and Long-toed Salamander occupancy. Cascades Frog occupancy showed no relationship to fish presence or lake traits. Our results suggest mechanisms of fish persistence over time and highlight areas where native amphibians are impacted by introduced fish. These results can guide management options like targeted fish removals that benefit native fauna while still supporting recreational fishing. More broadly, our work demonstrates the value of combining historical records with contemporary surveys and the utility of eDNA for broad-scale surveys of species distribution in remote wilderness areas.

Chirripó National Park (Costa Rica) contains an important mountain lake district that supplies water to downstream populations. Sediment records document remarkable stability in biotic assemblages over millennia, but the limnological response to the most recent decades of climate change is unknown. We assessed ecological change in 3 lakes on the Chirripó massif by analyzing diatom assemblages in sediment cores spanning the past ∼100 years. Also, water chemistry samples and hourly depth-temperature profiles over 1 yr were compared to data from earlier studies. For all 3 study lakes, we recorded circumneutral, dilute, and oligotrophic conditions with near-continuous mixing water columns, matching earlier characterizations of the lakes from ∼50 years ago. The diatom profiles spanning the past century showed either stable assemblages or minor variations among the same dominant taxa. The lack of marked limnological and ecological change in the study lakes, compared to those documented in tropical mountain lakes globally, is explained by nearby meteorological records that show no significant warming trend over the past 2 decades and limited catchment disturbances from anthropogenic activities. These data qualify the study sites as “heritage lakes,” a concept developed to identify and protect rare aquatic ecosystems as close to pristine as possible.

Hypolimnetic chlorophyll maxima are common in clear lakes and often occur at depths with between 1 and 0.1% of the surface incident light. Little is known, however, about the concentrations of chlorophyll in thermally unstratified mountain ponds and how these concentrations compare to epilimnetic and hypolimnetic concentrations in mountain lakes. The objectives of this study were to document the concentrations of chlorophyll in thermally unstratified ponds and stratified lakes in Mount Rainier National Park (MORA) and to compare the results with concentrations and distributions of chlorophyll in clear-deep lakes in the Oregon Cascade Range and the Sierra Nevada Range. Thirty-two ponds (<2.5 m deep) and 14 lakes(>9.9 m deep) were sampled primarily during the summers of 1992 to 1996 at MORA. Water samples from near the surface (0.1–0.5 m) of ponds and near the surface and near the bottom of lakes were collected over the deepest part of each system. One exception, Mowich Lake, was sampled at seven depths between the surface and 50 m (Z=58.6 m). Chlorophyll concentrations were low in all systems, but higher in ponds (average 1.8 μg·L−1) than in lakes. Chlorophyll concentrations were higher in hypolimnetic lake samples (average 0.7 μg·L−1) than in epilimnetic lake samples (average 0.2 μg·L−1). Elevated concentrations of chlorophyll in mountain ponds, relative to those in hypolimnetic lake samples, may have been influenced by increased nutrient availability from interactions at the mud-water interface and, in this park, defecation by elk that used many of the ponds as wallows. Mowich Lake showed a chlorophyll maximum (~1.5 μg·L−1) near the lake bottom. Based on Secchi disk clarity readings, the depth of 1.0% incident surface solar radiation was greater than the maximum depths of the ponds and lakes. Comparative data from other clear-deep lakes in the Oregon Cascade Range and Sierra Nevada Range suggested that deep-chlorophyll maxima (~1.5 μg·L−1) occurred at <1.0% and > 0.1% of the incident surface solar radiation, and that the typical maximum depths ranged between 75 and 140 m during thermal stratification.

Limited information is available about threshold lake nitrogen concentrations necessary to stimulate phytoplankton species and biomass responses in remote nitrogen-limited mountain lakes. We conducted in situ enrichment bioassays in mountain lakes within Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic National Parks in Washington State, USA to characterize phytoplankton species and biomass responses to nitrogen enrichment, and associated dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentration thresholds. Based on biomass and growth measurements, phytoplankton were nitrogen-limited or co-limited by nitrogen and phosphorus in the nine bioassay lakes. We identified 20 taxa that responded to nitrogen enrichment, and estimated response thresholds using nitrogen Monod half-saturation constants (K s) for 18 of these taxa. DIN thresholds in nitrogen-limited lakes were 13 μg N l−1 for any increase in chlorophyll a, and 25 μg N l−1, for an increase beyond typical inter-annual chlorophyll a variation. K s values ranged from 0.02 to 77 μg N l−1 across most N-responsive taxa, and diatom K s values were higher than those previously quantified in U.S. Rocky Mountain lakes. Approximately, 75% of sampled mountain lakes in the parks have summer dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations below biomass response thresholds. This finding suggests that phytoplankton in park mountain lakes are likely sensitive to future deposition-induced lake nitrogen enrichment.

The subject of the research is Sutjeska National Park, with special attention on the possibilities of establishing and developing adventure tourism. Sutjeska National Park is one of the four national parks in Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was founded in 1962, which makes it the oldest National Park. It was declared a protected area due to the famous Battle of Sutjeska during the Second World War, but also due to the existence of a significant natural geographical basis. A large number of cultural and historical monuments, Perućica rainforest, Maglić and Zelengora mountains, the mountain lakes, Sutjeska, and Hrčavka rivers are just some of the tourist potentials of the protected natural area. Until 1992, tourist activities in this area were based mainly on the achievements of the national struggle for liberation. After 1995, the interest of tourists in this type of tourism decreased to a large extent, so complementary tourist activities began to develop. To complete the tourist offer in Sutjeska national park, adventure tourism is being developed (hiking, mountaineering, alpine climbing, cycling, rafting, etc.). Given the natural geographical and cultural-historical elements, the Sutjeska national park is an ideal area for the development of this type of tourism, which contributes to the completion of the tourist offer.

Through the 1920s, hydro development proposals for irrigation and power dams impinged on Canada's national parks in the Rockies. The Alpine Club of Canada — a mountaineering organization formed in 1906 — rallied opposition to dams and insisted that national parks were an inviolable public domain. National Parks Commissioner J.B. Harkin and ACC Director A.O. Wheeler created an alliance that highlighted the club's role as a key interest group and recreational stakeholder with a shared vision of the mountain parks. Conflicts over dams in Rocky Mountains and Waterton Lakes national parks were politically and philosophically compared to the great battle of the “Hetch Hetchy” aqueduct in California.

This research highlights the main natural attractions of the nature reserve fund of the Transcarpathian region: the Synevir, Uzhansky and Zacharovanyi Kray national natural parks, the Prytysiansky and Synyak regional landscape parks, and the Carpathian Biosphere Reserve. These include, in particular, mountain ridges and peaks, fragments of river valleys, outcrops of rocks and rocky recrements, traces of the glacier (kars, glacier clay), mountain lakes, high moors, numerous springs (including mineral waters), waterfalls (cascading and single-stage), typical and rare species of flora and fauna, as well as valuable forest, subalpine, meadow, flood, etc. ecosystems. Every researched natural reserve territory has its own composition of natural attractions because of location in different natural regions in Ukrainian Carpathians: national natural park "Synevir" demonstrates massif Gorgany in Vododilno-Verhovynski Carpathians; Uzhansky national natural park is fragments of Vododilny middle-mountains highland massif (Vododilno-Verhovynski Carpathians) and Polonynsky massif of Polonynsko-Chornogirski Carpathians; national natural park "Zacharovanyi Kray" is central part of Vygorlat-Gutynsky volcanic strand of Ukrainian Carpathians; regional landscape park "Synyak" – part of mountainstrand of Vygorlat-Gutynsky volcanic strand; regional landscape park "Prytysyansky" – the most valuable natural territories of Prytysyansky alluvial lowland plain (part of Chop-Mukachivska plain). The Carpathian Biosphere Reserve is unique beyond others – it includes six separate massifes (Chornogirsky, Svydovecky, Marmarosky, Kuziysky, Ugolsko-Shyrokoluzansky, Valley of daffodils) and two national botanical reserves ("Chorna Gora" and "Julivska Gora"), which are located on heights from 180 to 2061 m above sea level in west, central and east parts of Ukrainian Carpathians. The most famous of these natural attractions are ecotourist paths and routes operating on the protected nature reserves, near recreational facilities and recreational areas. The biggest problem is the considerable (sometimes excessive) tourist load on these objects, insufficient control over tourist flows, intensive development of tourist infrastructure close to natural attractions and insufficient information and education provision. Some fo the ways to solve these problems are strengthening control over the tourist movement; introducing new types of ecotourism aimed at reducing the simultaneous tourist load on objects and, at the same time, increasing the number of visitors; improving informational and educational support; monitoring of the quality (compliance with environmental standards) of the tourist infrastructure.

This document describes field techniques and procedures used for sampling mountain ponds and lakes. These techniques and procedures will be used primarily to monitor, as part of long-term programs in National Parks and other protected areas, the abiotic and biotic characteristics of naturally occurring permanent montane lentic systems up to 75 ha in surface area. However, the techniques and procedures described herein also can be used to sample temporary or ephemeral montane lentic sites. Each Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) section addresses a specific component of the limnological investigation, and describes in detail field sampling methods pertaining to parameters to be measured for each component.

Integrating Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Lakes into the Glacially Influenced Landscape of the Northern Cascade Mountains, Washington State, USA.

Mercury, polybrominated diphenyl ether, organochlorine pesticide, and polychlorinated biphenyl concentrations in fish from lakes along an elevation transect in the French Pyrénées

Abstract. The Tatra National Park is the most frequently visited national park in Poland. Its most popular tourist trail is the route to Lake Morskie Oko, the second largest lake in the Tatra Mountains, and the best known mountain lake in Poland. The paper is based on results of field observations, and the analysis of literature and statistical data. The ecosystem of Morskie Oko in this paper is defined as the area of the lake’s catchment. The unique character of Morskie Oko is reflected by its recognition by “The Wall Street Journal” as one of five most beautiful lakes in the world. This results in exceptionally high interest of tourists in the lake despite the difficulties reaching the place. It takes walking a nine-kilometre route with a height difference of 420 m. Study results show the annual attendance of the place by more than a million people, whereas the number of tourists per day can exceed 10,000. The tourist traffic evidently intensifies between June and September. It results in high human pressure on the lake’s waters and surroundings, leading to the degradation of most components of the natural environment. Such high traffic intensity is frequently a nuisance for tourists using the trails themselves. Moreover, high tourist traffic contributes to the intensification of slope processes, resulting in mass movements in the form of debris and snow avalanches, potentially changing the course of the trails.

Nonnative salmonids have been intentionally introduced in North America for over a century and are now implicated in the decline of native aquatic species. Current management objectives for some national parks are to remove invasive species, where feasible. We evaluated the use of mechanical methods (gill nets and electrofishing) to eliminate a naturalized population of nonnative Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis in a subalpine headwater basin. We required a total of 1,383 continuous net nights/ha (net nights = number of nets × number of nights) over 5 years to completely eradicate 1,527 Brook Trout from both Lower (9.7 ha; 6 m maximum depth) and Middle (23.1 ha; 25 m maximum depth) Devon Lakes, Alberta, Canada. Electrofishing along the shoreline of both lakes resulted in the capture of 301 Brook Trout over 4 years. We required a total of 52.1 h/km of electrofishing over 5 years to completely remove 3,288 Brook Trout from the upper 4.5 km of the Clearwater River. We verified the absence of fish in the lakes with 1,558 net nights/ha of sampling over 4 years and in the river with 13.6 h/km over 2 years. This project confirms that mechanical methods are a viable option for removing introduced fish, even in relatively large (up to 20 ha) and deep (up to 25 m) mountain lakes. We surmised that our success (relative to that of projects described in the literature) was due to (1) the relatively simple alpine habitat, in which river and lake margins were clear of macrophytes, suspended sediment, and overhanging riparian vegetation, and (2) the sheer magnitude of our effort.

Introduced, nonnative brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) were removed from a mountain lake in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, to examine the capacity of native Ambystoma gracile (Northwestern Salamander) in the lake to respond to the intentional removal of fish. Temporal trends (Δ̄N) were calculated for A. gracile larvae/neotene and egg mass relative abundances in the Fish Removal and an adjacent Fishless Lake. The diel and spatial patterns of A. gracile in the lakes were also enumerated during time-intervals of fish presence in and after fish removal from the Fish Removal Lake. Sixty-six fish were removed from the Fish Removal Lake. The Δ̄Ns for relative abundances in the Fish Removal Lake were positive for the study period and indicated that the number of larvae/neotenes and egg masses observed in the lake increased concurrent with the removal and extirpation of fish from the lake. Numbers of larvae/neotenes and egg masses observed in the Fishless Lake varied annually, but no overall positive or negative trends were evident during the study. Ambystoma gracile in the Fish Removal Lake, during fish presence, were predominantly nocturnal and located in the shallow, structurally complex nearshore area of the lake. After fish were removed, the number of A. gracile observed in the lake increased, especially during the day and in the deeper, less structurally complex offshore area of the lake. Fishless Lake A. gracile were readily observed day and night in all areas of the lake throughout the study. The A. gracile in the Fish Removal Lake behaviorally adapted to the presence of introduced fish and were able to recover from the affects of the fish following fish removal. This study underscores the important relationship between species life history and the variability of responses of montane aquatic-breeding amphibians to fish introductions in mountain lakes.