Rain didn't stop us from sampling this past Sunday! Despite the overcast, windy conditions, Bill and I went out to the deep hole to perform routine water quality monitoring. Along with the standard water samples and temperature, pH, and oxygen monitoring, I brought out a net to catch zooplankton! Zooplankton include many types of tiny animals that eat other small organisms like phytoplankton or other zooplankton. The zooplankton in the lake also serve as food for bigger animals like fish. The types of zooplankton and their relative abundance in the lake can change over the seasons and also give us an idea about predator and prey interactions (zooplankton can be both predators AND prey).
Decided also to take advantage of the rainy day and investigate areas where water was
flowing into the lake. A kettle lake, like Lake Ronkonkoma, does not have an inlet providing water to the system, but rather the lake receives a large majority of its water from groundwater sources, precipitation, and surface runoff. Depending on the land use and amount of impervious surfaces within the watershed, surface runoff can sometimes contain extra nutrients or sediments that can impact water quality. I am hoping to catch more rain events in the months to come to further investigate runoff!