Nutrient Supply and Primary Production in Clear Lake, Eastern Ontario

Abstract

Clear Lake, a small Canadian Shield lake that has been influenced little by human activity, was found to be more productive than expected from chemical and optical properties and geological surroundings. Production during the ice-free season ranged from 0.10 to 2.57 g C/m² per day and averaged 250 g C/m² per year for the lake as a whole. Other limnological factors studied (phytoplankton standing crop, oxygen, temperature, and nutrient regimes) were typical for an oligotrophic lake.The high production values are partially explained by the high correction for filtration error, which averaged 3.2 times for all occasions tested.Atmospheric precipitation is undoubtedly the major source of supply of the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus to Clear Lake. Calcium and magnesium also appear to be largely carried in by precipitation, although most of the sodium, potassium, and silica entering the lake is weathered from the terrestrial watershed.