Date of Award:

5-1958

Document Type:

Dissertation

Degree Name:

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department:

Biology

Department name when degree awarded

Aquatic Biology

Committee Chair(s)

William F. Sigler

Committee

William F. Sigler

Abstract

In evaluating the potential ability of a lake to produce fish, probably no single standard is so important as an estimate of the amount of bottom fauna (Deevey and Bishop, 1942).

The study of the bottom fauna of Bear Lake was a part of the investigation of its limnology and fisheries, begun in 1952. This study was sponsored through federal monies made available through the Dingle-Johnson Act. The primary purpose of the study was to examine all the evidence in estimating the fish producing capacity of the lake. Bear Lake is the second largest fresh water lake in Utah but has a relatively poor fishery. It has the characteristics of an oligotrophic lake. It is a deep, cold lake with little food and an abundance of dissolved oxygen. The lake is a beautiful blue on clear days, further evidence of an oligotrophic condition. Only water poor in organic productivity can be blue (Ruttner, 1953).

My specific objective was to sample the bottom macrofauna at all depths and in all ares of the lake to determine what organisms are present and to what extent. This was necessary to estimate the supply of food for bottom feeding fish. The dredging was as extensive as possible in the time which could be allotted to this phase of the work. The large area of the open and deeper water region supports a comparatively uniform bottom population. The inshore rocky zones were exposed because of low water during most of this study, and the inshore regions of rooted plants were practically nonexistent.

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