Integrated aquatic community and water quality monitoring of mountain ponds and lakes in the Klamath Network

The long-term sampling protocol for mountain lakes and ponds in the Klamath Inventory and Monitoring Network is the result a collaborative effort of park personnel, USGS aquatic ecologist, and the Network staff.
Key steps covered in the narrative include a brief history of ―water quality‖ monitoring and justification for use of key parameters as biomonitoring tools. Invertebrates and plankton can respond to short-term impacts, while fish and amphibians can show long-term signals. The background of sampling done prior to this protocol in both Lassen Volcanic National Park and Crater Lake National Park is also covered; sampling at Lassen Volcanic National Park has been sporadic, and Crater Lake has been studied and monitored extensively, but is outside the scope of this particular protocol. The narrative links the methodology developed here to both national (e.g., United States Environmental Protection Agency and United States Geological Survey) methods and other Inventory and Monitoring Networks methods (e.g., North Coast Cascades Network). In sum, methods have been kept as comparable as possible, even though sampling designs and revisit patterns vary among national and NPS programs.
An always revisit panel design was chosen over more complicated designs based on: (1) Logistics of site establishment, (2) Trend detection, (3) Conceptual simplicity, and (4) ease of data analysis. Thirty sites will be monitored every three years at Lassen Volcanic National Park, and between six and ten sites will be sampled at Crater Lake National Park. Sampling will commence in 2013. Sampling will occur in summer, after snowmelt; starting at Lassen Volcanic National Park and then in Crater Lake National Park. One lagoon in Redwood National and State Parks will be sampled at the conclusion of the season.