Lake Ecology

Researchers sampling from the Jessie B research vessel on Flathead Lake

Over the years, FLBS researchers have conducted a wide array of studies on lakes, examining the influence of a variety of factors including: physical (eg, temperature, depth, habitat), chemical (eg, nutrients, pollutants, sediments) and biological (eg, competition, predation, introduced species). In addition to our flagship Flathead Lake Research and Monitoring Program, FLBS scientists and students have:

  • Conducted surveys of previously unstudied lakes in the Flathead Watershed, including lakes in the Bob Marshall Wilderness complex and the first aquatic science from Glacier National Park.
  • Revisited and repeated historic investigations of remote lakes.
  • Overseen and synthesized volunteer lake monitoring efforts of more than 40 lakes in the Flathead Watershed.
  • Conducted ecological research and monitoring on lakes including Swan and Whitefish, assisting state and federal management agencies with development of water quality standards through the Clean Water Act’s Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) process.
  • Coordinated comparative analysis of large lakes in the Northern Rocky Mountains, such as Flathead, Pend D’Oreille, Coeur D’Alene and Yellowstone.
  • Examined the role of lake ecology and productivity in foodwebs and fish production.
Publications
  • Elrod, M. J. 1910. The lakes of Glacier National Park, I Avalanche Lake. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 29(2):110–117.
  • Elrod, M. J. 1912. The lakes of Glacier National Park, II Lake Louise. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 31(2):11–16.
  • Stanford, J. A. and G. W. Prescott. 1988. Limnological features of a remote alpine lake in Montana, including a new species of Cladophora (Chlorophyta). Journal of the North American Benthological Society 7(2):140–151.
  • Wicklum, D. 1999. Variation in horizontal zooplankton abundance in mountain lakes: shore avoidance or fish predation? Journal of Plankton Research 21(10):1957–1975.
  • Ellis, B. K., J. A. Stanford, J. A. Craft, D. W. Chess, F. R. Hauer and D. C. Whited. 2003. Plankton communities of alpine and subalpine lakes in Glacier National Park, Montana, USA, 1984 - 1990. Verh. Internat. Verein. Limnol. 28(3):1542–1550.
  • Ellis, B. K. and J. A. Craft. 2008. Trophic status and trends in water quality for Volunteer Monitoring Program lakes in northwestern Montana, 1993–2007. Polson, Prepared for Flathead Basin Commission, Kalispell, Montana by Flathead Lake Biological Station, The University of Montana.
  • Hill, A. C., J. A. Stanford and P. R. Leavitt. 2009. Recent sedimentary legacy of sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) and climate change in an ultraoligotrophic, glacially-turbid British Columbia nursery lake. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 66(7):1141–1152.