LakePulse Survey: 3 summers, 680 lakes
Over 3 summers, our field teams travel across Canada to sample 680 lakes to create a nationwide dataset:
- 560 lakes selected in 9 core ecozones for a range of lake sizes and land-use impacts.
- 40 lakes selected for their historical archives or their importance for management purposes. This will help to provide a long-term context for understanding new data.
- 80 lakes in 4 northern ecozones to provide a north-south gradient across Canada.
Lakes sampled by end of summer 2017
Lakes sampled by end of summer 2018
Lakes sampled by end of summer 2019
The LakePulse Survey is sampling 680 lakes across Canada using standardized methods for over 100 variables, which will provide a unique data set for an unprecedented, in-depth assessment of the condition of freshwater in Canada.
Through multidisciplinary projects, LakePulse researchers and students are addressing critical questions.
The LakePulse.ca Water Portal is being developed to provide wide access to our research findings and other scientific information on lakes and watersheds.
Field teams for the summer of 2018
(see the Field team map for 2018 and our blog post: LakePulse to visit over 230 lakes in 7 provinces in the summer of 2018)
Cindy Paquette
Red Team
Alberta and Saskatchewan
Mauro de Toledo
Jihyeon Kim
Anaïs Oliva
Jonathan Beaudet
Blue Team
Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia
Rebecca Garner
Luca Romanini
François-Xavier Teysseire
Jordan Wight
Marie-Pierre Varin
Purple Team
British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba
Amir Reza Shahabinia
Bruno Cremella
Audrey Hamel-Bouchard
Maxime Fradette
Green Team
Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Katherine Griffiths
Vera Onana
Marieke Beaulieu
Alexandre Baud
Yellow Team lakes
Blue Team lakes
Purple Team lakes
Green Team lakes
Red Team lakes
Our 5 field teams
- Each team is responsible for sampling about 46 lakes (around 8 weeks of field sampling).
- This is in line with our target of 680 lakes over 3 years, which have been selected across Canada according to our sampling design.
- Each LakePulse student is assigned to a 4-person field team; each team member is assigned a key role.
- Students become proficient in a diverse range of limnological techniques described in the LakePulse Field Manual.
- Each team is provided with a detailed itinerary, but team members can adjust their weekly schedule to reach their target lakes. For example, adjusting shipping days and rest days. This approach was successful in the summer of 2017 when LakePulse sampled 217 lakes in 5 provinces.
LakePulse students are making possible Canada’s first national assessment of lake health
- LakePulse students learn how to plan and run a field campaign. Each field team is preparing a ‘field packet’ to provide relevant information for each lake.
- Teams are contacting municipal authorities and local groups, especially to ensure lake access.
- Each team is highly autonomous, but always in contact with our Field Coordination team based in Sherbrooke, Quebec, who provide extensive support.
- All teams will be trained to locate alternative lakes using our lake database.
Important dates for the LakePulse Survey in 2018
June 25, 26 and 27: Three-day field training workshop at the Université de Sherbrooke, Quebec. Field teams use the LakePulse Field Manual to learn about protocols and equipment.
June 28: Field teams start driving from the Université de Sherbrooke to their first lake.
June 30 or July 1, 2 or 3: The field season begins! Field teams sample their first lake. The exact start date depends on the distance of the first lake from Sherbrooke.
August 28, 29, 30 or 31: Each team should be sampling about their 46th lake! Time to start driving back to Sherbrooke! The exact date depends on the distance of the last lake from Sherbrooke.
Field Training (June 25, 26 and 27) at the Université de Sherbrooke
Four people (P1, P2, P3 and P4) on each team:
- P1 and P2 are in charge of morning sampling and follow-up filtrations.
- P3 is in charge of optics.
- P4 is in charge of sediment coring.
Three separate schedules (see tables below):
- P1 and P2 are trained together.
- P3 receives specific training on optics (likely with Simon Bélanger).
- P4 receives specific training on sediment cores (likely with Marie-Pierre).
- Some parts of the training are for all participants (see legend below).
Field Training Preliminary Schedule
Daily schedule at each lake: Group A (P1 and P2) and Group B (P3 and P4)
Nationally-consistent water quality data
Field teams will collect samples using the same methods at all lakes so that the results can be compared across the country. Large spatial scales are needed to understand how lake functioning and biogeochemistry are affected by different stressors in various regions.
We are also collaborating closely with the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Lakes Assessment to align our sampling protocols to allow continental-scale evaluations.
The measurements include indicators for:
Water quality
Nutrients, dissolved oxygen, cyanobacteria abundance, pesticides & pharmaceuticals, etc.
Recreation
Algal toxins, pathogens, etc.
Physical habitat
Lakeshore cover, light attenuation & reflectance, watershed characteristics, etc.
Biology
Algae, microscopic animals, bacteria, etc.
The information compiled in the LakePulse Database will gradually be made accessible online (starting in 2019),
so that anyone can view the results to help address local policy questions and to improve the management of aquatic resources.
Much more information will also be included in our database related to specific projects carried out by LakePulse researchers and students.
LakePulse Survey 5-year timeline
2017 – Our 1st field campaign. We sampled 217 lakes in Québec, Ontario, New Brunswick, PEI and Nova Scotia from mid-July to the end of August. Samples will be processed in the fall and winter. Data will be entered into the LakePulse Database.
2018 – Our 2nd field campaign. Field teams will visit about 232 new lakes.
2019 – Our final summer of sampling. Field teams will sample many Canadian regions that were not visited previously.
2020 & 2021 – The LakePulse researchers, partners and students will be crunching numbers to understand the health of Canadian lakes. We will extend our lake health assessments to all Canadian lakes through diverse techniques. Ultimately, our web interface will allow you to obtain information on many 1000s of lakes in Canada, but this will take several years of hard work!