Profundal-Pelagic Macrocrustacean Abundance in Boreal Lakes Before and After Experimental Clearcut Logging

Abstract

A sampling program of 9 years revealed that the opossum shrimp Mysis relicta and the amphipod Diporeia hoyi were present in three boreal lakes in northwestern Ontario, Canada regardless of whether watershed forests were left completely intact, left as only a narrow buffer strip, or were nearly completely removed through experimental clearcutting. In fact, Diporeia were actually found to be more abundant in all lakes following logging. And the decline in Mysis abundance observed in one of the lakes occurred well before the initiation of timber removal. Consequently, it appears that these keystone, glacial-relic species of macrocrustaceans are not negatively impacted by clearcutting. This is in direct contrast to the hyper-sensitivity and extirpation of these same species which has been previously demonstrated in acidifying boreal lakes.