Poster Details
THE ABUNDANCE AND SIZE DISTRIBUTION OF LAKES AND PONDS IN CENTRAL VIRGINIA
Historically large lakes have received the majority of research effort and because of this we know more about the ecology and function of large lakes than we do about smaller systems. More recently, the potential for small lakes and ponds to have significant impacts on watershed processes is being realized and this has led to more research on the ecological function of small ponds and lakes. In order to effectively scale up individual pond studies to larger geographic areas, there needs to be an accurate description of the abundance and size distribution of ponds and lakes within watersheds. We are using a geographic information system (GIS) to determine the abundance and size distribution of lotic water bodies in the Appomattox River watershed in central Virgina. Preliminary results, show that the average density of lakes is 76 km-2 and that there are more lakes in the 0.00 to 0.01 km2 size category than all other size categories combined. These results show that small ponds are the numerically dominant lentic habitat in central Virgina and likely to be an important component of watershed function in this region.
Jonathan Milisci (Primary Presenter/Author), Longwood University, jonathan.milisci@live.longwood.edu;
Kenneth Fortino (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Longwood University, fortinok@longwood.edu;