Oneida Lake: Long-term Dynamics of a Managed Ecosystem and Its Fishery

Chapter 10: Dynamics of Aquatic Vegetation in Oneida Lake, 1915-2005: a Response to Ecosystem Changes

Dean G. Fitzgerald, Bin Zhu, Edward L. Mills, Lars G. Rudstam, Susan B. Hoskins, David E. Haddad, Nathan R. Burtch, Jeremy T. H. Coleman, and Darran L. Crabtree

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874431.ch10

Aquatic vegetation affects the structure and function of lake ecosystems. Plants modify the physical and chemical conditions of the water and sediment (Barko et al. 1991; Petticrew and Kalff 1992), the production of organic matter and recycling of nutrients (Carpenter et al. 1992; Hecky et al. 1993), and habitat complexity and therefore biotic interactions (Diehl and Kornijów 1998; Schindler and Scheuerell 2002). Understanding the factors that affect aquatic vegetation dynamics and distribution is therefore an important component of assessing the effect of ecosystem change on lakes and their fisheries.