The data collected and models developed in this project permit us to spatially characterize the vegetative structure and composition of the entire riparian area of Katherine Lake relative to current land uses. Impacts This project will produce a realistic forecasting model that predicts future forest stand composition and resulting littoral zone woody habitat based on various forest management options and Best Management Practices.
The current student has a second field season that will begin upon ice-out this spring. That student will be traveling to Wyoming to link with a former student (previous project student) to train and start reworking some of the static components of the model. A graduate student finished their first summer of field research on our study site on Katherine Lake examining how fish are using trees and presented their research results at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conference in Omaha, The model has static components (e.g., standardized tree heights being used to determine recruitment potential as a function of a portion of a tree that actually contributes to habitat, how fish actually use trees once they recruit, etc.) that are being reworked. The model is currently being calibrated and made more dynamic to identify the riparian forest conditions that optimize both the structure and function of riparian areas and littoral zones of lakes concurrently (i.e., best management practices). The model will predict consequences of various forest management strategies on recruitment of submerged trees as fish habitat in lakes and allow us to determine what are sustainable practices. Wisconsin's Forest Management Guidelines (Best Management Practices).
The current work adds to that information by further developing a land-use model that assesses and predicts what are sustainable recruitment rates of trees into lakes that become aquatic habitat and also evaluates alternatives to To date the project has included assessing the effects of modifying the riparian area-littoral zone interface of lakes on littoral zone habitats, understanding relations between littoral zone habitat complexity and fish community structure and biotic integrity, assessing the relation of submerged tree age and complexity with use by littoral zone fishes, quantifying relations between riparian area structure and use by piscivorous shorebirds, and describing use of submerged trees by amphibians. Progress 10/01/02 to 09/30/04 Outputs Current research in the Wisconsin Cooperative Fishery Research Unit is evaluating riparian area-littoral zone linkages with particular emphasis on understanding recruitment dynamics of riparian trees into lakes and how they are then used by fish.
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