EPA - National Lakes Assessment - Zooplankton - 2007

Susan Holdsworth1, Derek Masaki2, Annie Simpson2

1 US Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., 20460, Washington, United States; 2 US Geological Survey, Science Analytics and Synthesis program, 12201 Sunrise Valley Drive, Mail stop 302, 20192, Reston, United States

Corresponding author(s): Susan Holdsworth (holdsworth.susan@epa.gov)Derek Masaki (dmasaki@usgs.gov), Annie Simpson (asimpson@usgs.gov)

Received {date}; Revised {date}; Accepted {date}; Published {date}

Citation: Combination of authors, year of data paper publication (in parentheses), Title, Journal Name, Volume, Issue number (in parentheses), and doi of the data paper.

Resource Citation

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).
2009. National Lakes Assessment: A Collaborative
Survey of the Nation’s Lakes. EPA 841-R-09-001. U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Water and
Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C. https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2013-11/documents/nla_newlowres_fullrpt.pdf

Abstract

The National Lakes Assessment (NLA) is a first-ever statistically-valid survey of the biological condition of lakes and reservoirs throughout the U.S. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) worked with states and tribes to conduct the assessment in 2007. These are the results of the assessment for zooplankton.

Keywords: Occurrence, assessment, zooplankton, Observation

General description

Purpose: The National Lakes Assessment (NLA) is a first-ever statistically-valid survey of the biological condition of lakes and reservoirs throughout the U.S.

Project details

Project title: US Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 National Lake Assessment - zooplankton
Personnel: Susan Holdsworth
Funding: EPA
Study area descriptions/descriptor: NLA results are reported for the
continental U.S. and for 9 ecological regions
(ecoregions). Areas are included in an
ecoregion based on similar landform and
climate characteristics (see Chapter 6 and
Figure 20). Assessments were conducted
at the ecoregion level because the patterns
of response to stress are often best
understood in a regional context. Some
states participating in the NLA assessed
lake condition at an even finer state-scale
resolution than the ecoregional scale by
sampling additional random sites within their
state boundaries. Although these data are
included in the analysis described in this
report, state-scale results are not presented.

Data published through GBIF: https://bison.usgs.gov/ipt/resource?r=epa_nla_zooplankton

Taxonomic coverage

General taxonomic coverage description: 127 different taxa of zooplankton:
 Acari                      Chaoborus                  Keratella                 
##[4] Bosmina                    Chaoborus punctipennis     Cyclopidae                
##[7] Diaptomidae                Lecanidae                  Lepadella                 
##[10] Ploesoma                   Polyarthra                 Synchaeta                 
##[13] Trichocerca                Diaphanosoma               Daphnia ambigua           
##[16] Temoridae                  Anuraeopsis                Brachionus angularis      
##[19] Conochilidae               Hexarthra                  Kellicottia bostoniensis  
##[22] Keratella taurocephala     Platyias                   Pompholyx                 
##[25] Notommata                  Asplanchna                 Brachionus caudatus       
##[28] Brachionus havanaensis     Filinia                    Gastropus                 
##[31] None present               Ceriodaphnia               Chydoridae                
##[34] Chironomidae               Daphnia mendotae           Kellicottia longispina    
##[37] Daphnia                    Polyphemus                 Daphnia catawba           
##[40] Sida                       Calanoida                  Chaoborus flavicans       
##[43] Holopedium gibberum        Collotheca                 Rotifera                  
##[46] Daphnia parvula            Keratella hiemalis         Leptodora                 
##[49] Moina                      Euchlanis                  Daphnia retrocurva        
##[52] Eubosmina                  Dreissena bugensis         Dreissena polymorpha      
##[55] Testudinella               Ergasilus                  Bdelloidea                
##[58] Mytilina                   Brachionus calyciflorus    Brachionus quadridentatus 
##[61] Brachionus forficula       Keratella testudo          Hesperodiaptomus          
##[64] Brachionus urceolaris      Keratella quadrata         Notholca                  
##[67] Daphnia lumholtzi          Tylotrocha                 Chaoborus albipes         
##[70] Centropagidae              Cercopagis                 Unionicola                
##[73] Holopedium amazonicum      Brachionus bidentata       Ascomorpha                
##[76] Daphnia laevis             Collothecidae              Daphnia longiremis        
##[79] Aglaodiaptomus             Encentrum                  Colurella                 
##[82] Ceratopogonidae            Brachionus                 Ptygura                   
##[85] Brachionus satanicus       Brachionus budapestinensis Harpacticoida             
##[88] Trichotria                 Keratella chussa           Scapholeberis             
##[91] Mysis relicta              Wolga                      Chaoborus americanus      
##[94] Lophocharis                Simocephalus               Proales                   
##[97] Kellicottia                Keratella serrulata        Copepoda                  
##[100] Latona                     Sinantherina               Daphnia ctenodaphnia      
##[103] Macrothricidae             Brachionus zahniseri       Cephalodella              
##[106] Epiphanidae                Monommata                  Epiphanes                 
##[109] Keratella ticinensis       Keratella irregularis      Daphnia dubia             
##[112] Dreissena                  Brachionus leydigi         Keratella valga           
##[115] Limnias                    Wierzejskiella             Artemia                   
##[118] Gammaridae                 Notommatidae               Bythotrephes              
##[121] Eurycercus                 Brachionus pterodinoides   Brachionus falcatus       
##[124] Resticula                  Bosminidae                 Coliothecidae             
##[127] Bosminopsis
Taxonomic ranks
Kingdom: animalia
Common names: Animals

Spatial coverage

General spatial coverage: geographic scope = 48.97903 to 26.93623 latitude; -67.6993 to -124.6325 longitude
Coordinates: 26°56'9.6''N and 48°58'44.4''N Latitude; 124°37'55.2''W and 67°41'56.4''W Longitude 

Temporal coverage: 2007

Methods

Method step description: Since a census of every lake in the
country is cost prohibitive and beyond the
reach of any program, EPA used a statistical
sampling approach incorporating state-ofthe-art
survey design techniques. The first
step, to ascertain the number of lakes in the
country, was challenging because there is no
comprehensive list or source for all lakes in
the U.S. The best resource available is the
USGS/EPA National Hydrography Dataset
or NHD.
Study extent description: Initial discussion by states and EPA
regarding the scope of the survey focused on
the size of lakes that were to be considered
in the target population. It was agreed that,
to be included, the site had to be a natural or
man-made freshwater lake, pond or reservoir,
greater than 10 acres (4 hectares), at least
3.3 feet (1 meter) deep, and with a minimum
of a quarter acre (0.1 hectare) open water.
The Great Lakes and the Great Salt Lake
were not included in the survey, nor were
commercial treatment and/or disposal ponds,
brackish lakes, or ephemeral lakes. After
applying the criteria, 68,223 waterbodies
were considered lakes by the NLA definition
and thus comprised the target population.
Sampling description: In preparation for the survey, each target
lake was screened to verify that it met the
established criteria for inclusion in the survey.
Throughout the summer of 2007, 86 field
crews, consisting of 2 to 4 people each,
sampled lakes from Maine to California. 
At each lake site, crews collected samples
at a single station located at the deepest
point in the lake and at ten stations around
the lake perimeter (Figure 4). At the midlake
station, depth profiles for temperature,
pH, and dissolved oxygen were taken with
a calibrated water quality probe meter or
multi-probe sonde. A Secchi disk was used
to measure water clarity and depth at which
light penetrates the lake (the euphotic
zone). NLA analysts used these vertical
profile measurements to determine the
extent of stratification and the availability
of the appropriate temperature regime
and level of available oxygen necessary
to support aquatic life. Single grab water
samples were collected to measure nutrients,
chlorophyll-a, phytoplankton, and the algal
toxin microcystin. Zooplankton samples were
collected using a fine mesh (80µm) and
course mesh (243µm) conical plankton net.
A sediment core was taken to provide data
on sediment diatoms and mercury levels. The
top and bottom layers of the sediment core
were analyzed to detect possible changes in
diatom assemblages over a period of time.
Quality control description: To
ensure consistency in data collection and
quality assurance, the crews attended a
three-day training session, used standardized
field methods and data forms, and followed
strict quality control protocols including field
audits.

Datasets

Dataset description
Object name: Darwin Core Archive EPA - National Lakes Assessment - Zooplankton - 2007
Character encoding: UTF-8
Format name: Darwin Core Archive format
Format version: 1.0
Distribution: https://bison.usgs.gov/ipt/archive.do?r=epa_nla_zooplankton
Publication date of data: 2020-05-21
Language: English
Licences of use: Public Domain (CC0 1.0)

Metadata language: English
Date of metadata creation: 2014-11-30
Hierarchy level: Dataset