Project Code: DMI-01-019
Area:Applied Research
Sponsor:Daishowa Marubeni

The goal of this Study was to describe lake phytoplankton assemblages in boreal lakes to assess the impact of forest fire on these aquatic systems.

Research objectives included mapping of forest fire history patterns in chosen boreal forest lake watersheds and description of phytoplankton species composition in these lakes.

Field work for this Project took place in the Summer & Fall of 1999, and the laboratory analysis was completed in the Spring of 2000. The Master of Science thesis was finished in the Fall of 2001.

The results of the Study are contained in a seventy-seven report entitled, "The Response of Lake Phytoplankton Communities to Fire on the Boreal Plain in Alberta – a Paleolimnological Study" submitted on October 2nd, 2001. In addition, there were two scientific manuscripts produced from this work – "Long Term Response of Lake Phytoplankton to Fire on the Boreal Plain: a Paleolimnological Study" and "Recent Fire History from the Sediments of two Northern Alberta Lakes and Comparison with Pb dating".

Keywords
Boreal Plain Watersheds
Wildfires
Natural Disturbances
Daishowa
Phytoplankton Species Composition