An investigation of diatom communities and freshwater aquatic attributes of Oden State Fish Hatchery.

Abstract

Understanding carbon cycling is central to appreciating how food webs within aquatic ecosystems are structured and supported, To better understand specifically how food webs play an integral part in ecosystem services algal samples were collected from ceramic tiles colonized within the Oden State Fish Hatchery (OSFH), Emmet County, Michigan, Five survey locations within the hatchery were used for this investigation to include; a public feeding pond discharge site, a brood/hatchery operations discharge site, a racewaylfinishing pond discharge site and two recovery locations downstream of OSFH that flow into Crooked Lake, The purpose of this investigation was to identify the base of the food web at OSFH by identifying the diatom flora and macroinvertcbrates, calculate the changes within the system by measuring physical, chemical and biological attributes, and to determine what effect hatchery operation produced nutrients have on the overall system.