The potential for restoration of acid-damaged lake trout lakes

Abstract

This review of long-term monitoring and experimental manipulation studies from Ontario, Canada, offers encouraging evidence that lake trout (Salvelinus namay-cush) populations can be restored to acidified lakes once the problem of acid deposition is solved in North America. Predicting the rate of chemical and biological recovery remains difficult, because there are several limnological attributes (dissolved organic carbon, flushing rate) and biological attributes (acid sensitivity, species longevity, fish community composition) of lake trout ecosystems that can either enhance or delay the recovery process. Some options for managing recovering lakes are also reviewed, including increased pollution controls, liming, hatchery stocking, and harvest controls.