Gradual reduction and extinction of fish populations in acid lakes

Fish communities in four lakes sampled over several years were compared against a reference data set of forty-nine lakes in south-central Ontario. Two of the temporal-comparison lakes (Crosson and Grindstone) exhibit significant changes in their fish communities relative to the reference set. This was due to the extirpation of various fish species (white sucker Catostomus commersoni, lake trout Salvelinus namaycush, and blacknose shiner Notropis heterolepis) during the intervening years. A control lake in the temporal comparison (Poorhouse) showed little change in species composition over time and no loss of species. The fourth temporal lake, Plastic Lake, also showed little change likely as a consequence of the previously documented extinctions in this lake. White suckers within Crosson Lake have demonstrated intermittent recruitment and a 89% reduction in population abundance due to acid-induced reproductive constraints in their spawning stream. Similar conditions contributed to the loss of sucker populations and additional species in Grindstone and Plastic Lakes also. Various species in many of the lakes represent metapopulations. Given the barriers imposed by outflow drainage conditions, these accelerated rates of local extinctions have not been balanced by colonizations from other lakes within the watershed. As a consequence the underlying fish communities have been changed and will remain so without active rehabilitation.