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Research

In 2003, Nature Trails designed a program in partnership with The Harkness Laboratory of Fisheries Research and Ontario Parks that introduced the general public to the intricacies of aquatic and terrestrial research. Participants, assisted in a variety of research related activities; working with limnological field equipment to collect temperature/oxygen profiles, netting microscopic zooplankton; following movements of lake trout implanted with ultrasonic tags using underwater hydrophones; and conducting aquatic bird surveys across Lake Opeongo. While out on an expedition participants also collected routine information such as wave height and wind speed which will be used by a University of Toronto graduate student to help develop models of how wind disturbance effects the spatial distribution of zooplankton in the lake. The data collected by Nature Trails participants will become part of a long-term data set researchers can use to monitor potential invasive species introductions, impacts of climate change and shifts in the abundance and distribution of aquatic birds.

Results Opeongo Research Data 2003
Lake Trout #348 Spring and Summer Movement
Lake Opeongo Sampling Sites

Results Opeongo Research Data 2004
End of Season Summary

Nature Trails is looking forward to 2004 and building upon the success of this past year!

Photo Credits: Rob Stimpson and Robert Taylor