LAKEWOOD, N.Y. — Chautauqua Lake Association Executive Director Douglas Conroe has announced that reports of 2021 Chautauqua Lake aquatic plant monitoring studies are now posted on the association’s website. The reports, which include a historical perspective on plant presence in the lake, were authored by Racine-Johnson Aquatic Ecologists of Ithaca, New York. This team of researchers have been independently monitoring Chautauqua Lake plant conditions for 20 years.
The number of plant species cataloged remains high and is consistent with the records of the past 84 years. The long-term data suggests that native plant species are not outcompeted by the non-native Eurasian watermilfoil either in biomass or the number of occurrences throughout Chautauqua Lake.
The Racine-Johnson ecologists also monitor herbivore activity in the lake ecosystem. Plant eating weevils, moths, midges, and two species of caddis are of the five biological control agents that naturally aid in managing Eurasian watermilfoil and curly-leaf pondweed growth in Chautauqua Lake. These herbivores have successfully assisted in keeping Eurasian watermilfoil from reaching the surface throughout most of the lake.
Given concern that exists about the occurrence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in the lake, the report details how Eurasian watermilfoil, curly-leaf pondweed and other plant species naturally release allelopathic substances along with performing nutrient uptake functions that serve to repel excessive cyanobacteria growth/HABs.
The report further credits improved water clarity in 2021 to the presence of aquatic plants where they previously did not inhabit the lake in 2020.
Conroe commented that, “We are very fortunate to have Racine-Johnson monitoring Chautauqua Lake. The firm has a national reputation for excellence and continually gives us an objective and authoritative report on lake plant conditions and factors affecting those conditions.”
To download this report and other lake reports, visit https:// chautauqualakeassociation.org/science/racine-johnson-aquatic-ecologists/.
