Analysis of substrate utilization by fish, macroinvertebrates, and aquatic macrophytes in Onondaga Lake, New York

Onondaga Lake, Syracuse, New York, has undergone recent improvements in water quality and clarity, which contributed to increased species richness and distribution of aquatic macrophytes and fish. Even with these improvements, some areas of the lake contain sparse vegetation and limited nesting of centrarchid fishes. Many of these locations contain contaminated sediments and are scheduled for remediation. A pilot study was implemented in July of 2008, in collaboration with Honeywell Inc., SUNY ESF, NYSDEC, USFWS, Parsons, and Anchor QEA, LLC. This study evaluated utilization by fish, macroinvertebrates and aquatic macrophytes of three sediment classes (sand, sand/ gravel, and gravel/cobble) at three sites with differing wave energies. Nesting of Micropterus salmoides occurred on the two larger sediment size classes at low energy sites; Lepomis gibbosus nested preferentially on sand. Amphipods and bivalves dominated the low wave energy invertebrate community, chironomids dominated the medium, and the high energy site was minimally colonized by May 2009. Small leaf Potamogeton species colonized gravel/cobble substrate at the high energy site in June 2009. In November 2009, low and medium energy sites displayed some colonization by Myriophyllum spicatum, Potamogeton crispus, and Elodea canadensis, with no colonization of the largest sediment