forWater Forum Story
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From changing climate to land management to treatment implications and more: Turkey Lakes Watershed research ties it all together
Key messages
Water Treatment Costs Reduced by
per cent
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Summary
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Designing effective source water protection strategies requires a sound understanding of watershed processes and how they respond to environmental change. Long-term and comprehensive watershed monitoring is one of the most rigorous approaches for understanding watershed processes, particularly in times of unprecedented climate and land cover change. The Turkey Lakes Watershed (TLW) study, located near Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, was established in 1979 and is one of the longest running watershed-based ecosystem studies in Canada. Since its inception, research at TLW has taken a multi-disciplinary, whole-ecosystem approach to investigate the processes governing terrestrial and aquatic responses to natural and anthropogenic disturbances. Involvement of forWater at TLW over the last few years instigated a number of research projects focused on understanding how climate and forest change are altering water quality within the context of drinking water treatability.
Thirteen forested headwater streams within TLW have been monitored for streamflow and water quality over the past 40 years. This long-term monitoring has revealed that stream DOC concentrations have generally been increasing in response to climate change and recovery from acid rain deposition. In particular, streams that drain small forested wetlands show increasing trends in DOC concentration that are double or triple those trends for steams without wetlands. These small wetlands are also known to strongly influence hydrologic processes and other water quality variables, such as nitrogen, and are therefore important landscape features that need to be considered when designing source water protection strategies. A forest management experiment was conducted at TLW which allows for the unique opportunity to understand the individual and combined effects of climate and land cover change on water quality. Three of the headwater catchments were harvested in |
1997. One catchment was clearcut, while two other catchments were subject to partial harvesting approaches (selection and shelterwood harvest). This experiment has revealed complex water quality responses that can persist beyond the first few years following harvesting. For example, forest harvesting increased stream DOC concentrations, with the greatest increase for the clearcut catchment, and the effect has persisted at least 20+ years following harvesting. In contrast, concentration of nitrogen solutes increased immediately after harvesting but returned to pre-harvest levels within five years. Depending on the solute, harvesting can have antagonistic or agonistic effects with long-term stream water chemistry changes associated with climate variability, climate change and atmospheric deposition. Results from TLW highlight that shorter-term forest harvesting impacts can be affected by longer-term stream chemistry trends induced by acidification recovery and climate change.
forWater involvement at TLW also inspired research that has looked beyond the study watershed boundaries to understand regional variability in water quality within the boreal shield ecozone. Synoptic sampling of thirty streams throughout the Algoma region, with varying forest disturbance histories, revealed that variability in DOC concentration and quality were strongly influenced by the presence of upstream lakes. This may suggest that lakes within stream networks can potentially moderate the effects of forest disturbance on water quality. However, research from lake ecosystems within TLW has revealed complex dynamics in cyanobacteria potential related to climate change that may threaten water quality and drinking water supply. There is clearly more to learn about how interactions between climate, hydrology, and forest disturbance influence drinking water quality; however, research at TLW has provided critical insights on watershed processes and water quality in response to climate and forest management. |
Publications
Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Hazlett, P. W., Buttle, J. M., Emilson, E. J. S., & Creed, I. F. (2022). Long-term stream chemistry response to harvesting in a northern hardwood forest watershed experiencing environmental change. Forest Ecology and Management, 519:120345.
Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Houle, D., Hazlett, P. W., & Emilson, E. J. (2021). Acidification recovery in a changing climate: Observations from thirty‐five years of stream chemistry monitoring in forested headwater catchments at the Turkey Lakes watershed, Ontario. Hydrological Processes, 35(9):e14346.
Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Hazlett, P. W., Fleming, R. L., Emilson, E. J., Houle, D., ... & Yanni, S. D. (2021). Turkey Lakes Watershed, Ontario, Canada: 40 years of interdisciplinary whole‐ecosystem research. Hydrological Processes, 35(4):e14109.
Fines, R. W., Stone, M., Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Buttle, J. M., Emelko, M. B., & Collins, A. L. (2023). Evaluation of Legacy Forest Harvesting Impacts on Dominant Stream Water Sources and Implications for Water Quality Using End Member Mixing Analysis. Water, 15(15):2825.
McPhail, S., Buttle, J. M., Webster, K. L., & Leach, J. A. (2023). Persistent chemostatic behaviour of stream solutes in a northern hardwood forest under climatic and atmospheric deposition changes. Hydrological Processes, 37(5):e14888.
Leach, J. A., Buttle, J. M., Webster, K. L., Hazlett, P. W., & Jeffries, D. S. (2020). Travel times for snowmelt‐dominated headwater catchments: Influences of wetlands and forest harvesting, and linkages to stream water quality. Hydrological Processes, 34(10):2154-2175.
Cameron, E.S., 2021. Spatiotemporal Shifts in Cyanobacterial Communities in a Northern Temperate Watershed–Applications of Next-Generation Sequencing and Implications for Monitoring and Climate Change Adaptation. Ph.D. thesis. University of Waterloo.
Watkins, M. 2024. The effects of forest disturbance on dissolved organic carbon in the Algoma region, central Ontario. M.Sc. thesis. Trent University.
Cameron, E.S., Muller, K.M., Stone, M., Buttle, J., Leach, J., Webster, K. and Emelko, M.B., 2022. Early Seasonal Increases and Persistence in Relative Abundance of Potentially Toxic Cyanobacteria: Concerning Impacts of Extended Ice-Free Periods in Northern Temperate Lakes. bioRxiv, pp.2022-12. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.20.521158
Cameron, E.S., Schmidt, P.J., Tremblay, B.J.-M., Emelko, M.B. & Müller, K.M. 2021. Enhancing diversity analysis by repeatedly rarefying next generation sequencing data describing microbial communities. Scientific Reports, 11:22302.
Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Houle, D., Hazlett, P. W., & Emilson, E. J. (2021). Acidification recovery in a changing climate: Observations from thirty‐five years of stream chemistry monitoring in forested headwater catchments at the Turkey Lakes watershed, Ontario. Hydrological Processes, 35(9):e14346.
Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Hazlett, P. W., Fleming, R. L., Emilson, E. J., Houle, D., ... & Yanni, S. D. (2021). Turkey Lakes Watershed, Ontario, Canada: 40 years of interdisciplinary whole‐ecosystem research. Hydrological Processes, 35(4):e14109.
Fines, R. W., Stone, M., Webster, K. L., Leach, J. A., Buttle, J. M., Emelko, M. B., & Collins, A. L. (2023). Evaluation of Legacy Forest Harvesting Impacts on Dominant Stream Water Sources and Implications for Water Quality Using End Member Mixing Analysis. Water, 15(15):2825.
McPhail, S., Buttle, J. M., Webster, K. L., & Leach, J. A. (2023). Persistent chemostatic behaviour of stream solutes in a northern hardwood forest under climatic and atmospheric deposition changes. Hydrological Processes, 37(5):e14888.
Leach, J. A., Buttle, J. M., Webster, K. L., Hazlett, P. W., & Jeffries, D. S. (2020). Travel times for snowmelt‐dominated headwater catchments: Influences of wetlands and forest harvesting, and linkages to stream water quality. Hydrological Processes, 34(10):2154-2175.
Cameron, E.S., 2021. Spatiotemporal Shifts in Cyanobacterial Communities in a Northern Temperate Watershed–Applications of Next-Generation Sequencing and Implications for Monitoring and Climate Change Adaptation. Ph.D. thesis. University of Waterloo.
Watkins, M. 2024. The effects of forest disturbance on dissolved organic carbon in the Algoma region, central Ontario. M.Sc. thesis. Trent University.
Cameron, E.S., Muller, K.M., Stone, M., Buttle, J., Leach, J., Webster, K. and Emelko, M.B., 2022. Early Seasonal Increases and Persistence in Relative Abundance of Potentially Toxic Cyanobacteria: Concerning Impacts of Extended Ice-Free Periods in Northern Temperate Lakes. bioRxiv, pp.2022-12. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.12.20.521158
Cameron, E.S., Schmidt, P.J., Tremblay, B.J.-M., Emelko, M.B. & Müller, K.M. 2021. Enhancing diversity analysis by repeatedly rarefying next generation sequencing data describing microbial communities. Scientific Reports, 11:22302.
Contributors
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The Turkey Lakes Watershed Study is the product of collaboration between Natural Resources Canada, Environment and Climate Change Canada, and Fisheries and Oceans Canada. The Turkey Lakes Watershed is located on the traditional territory of the Batchewana First Nation. The field and laboratory assistance of Jamie Broad, Kristi Broad, Sharon Gibbs, Laura Hawdon, Lisa Littleton, Mike McAulay, Linda Vogel, Tom Weldon, Stephanie Nelson and many past Natural Resources Canada – Canadian Forest Service (NRCan-CFS) and Environment and
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Climate Change Canada (ECCC) employees and students is gratefully acknowledged. Researchers involved at the site as part of forWater include: Kara Webster, Erik Emilson, Jason Leach, Jim Buttle (Trent U), and UWaterloo’s Mike Stone, Monica Emelko, Kirsten Müller and Nandita Basu. forWater students include: UWaterloo’s Annie Gray, Will Fines, Ellen Cameron, Harshina Brijlall, Tyler Hampton, and Trent U’s Nan Qi, Sarah McPhail, Matt Watkins, and Cassidy Cameron.
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