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Research about Adirondack Park

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Adirondack Park.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2026

Exploring management options for moose at their southern range limits considering growing disease risk

1. Populations of cold-adapted species are increasingly vulnerable along their low-latitude range limits due to shifting environmental conditions, biotic interactions, and anthropogenic pressures. Managing these populations is particularly challenging because of complex ecological dynamics, conflicting stakeholder interests, and decision-making under uncertainty. 2. We explored population growth (λ) of moose ( Alces alces ) under different hypothetical management scenarios, simulating combinations of five hypothetical harvest levels with three levels of disease impact. 3. Facing current disease, the population could support multiple levels of conservative harvest. Under elevated levels of disease-caused mortality, projections indicated declines for all harvest scenarios. We projected increases across all harvest scenarios when overlap with white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) was hypothetically reduced and disease mortality in moose minimized. We investigated whether uncertainty in moose demographic parameters altered population trajectory, and found changes in adult fecundity and calf survival could alter harvest decisions when λ<1. 4. Practical implication . While moose population trajectories may remain stable under current conditions, management of white-tailed deer that reduces moose exposure to lethal parasites may provide the greatest utility in sustaining moose in New York given the potential for increased disease. Continued monitoring of population size, growth, and disease prevalence would inform sustainable moose harvest levels that balance social and ecological management considerations.

New York↗
USGS2025

Moose survival and habitat‐associated risk of endoparasites

Parasite-induced morbidity and mortality can alter the trajectories of incidental host populations. Yet, parasites rarely act in isolation and may be one of a multitude of biotic and abiotic stressors that collectively shape mortality risk in vertebrate populations. We quantified sources of mortality in a low-density population of moose ( Alces alces ) in New York State and investigated factors including parasite infection, nutritional limitation, and thermal stress influencing mortality risk in calf moose. We observed high rates of annual survival (0.81–0.92) in adult ( n = 25) and calf ( n = 27) moose monitored 2015–2018 and 2022–2024, respectively. The majority of cause-specific mortality was attributed to disease induced by giant liver fluke ( Fascioloides magna ; 75% in adults, 67% in calves). Calf mortality risk increased by 72% for every unit increase in giant liver fluke infection risk, measured as cumulative monthly proportion of wetlands used by moose, and decreased by 16% with each additional unit of nutritional energy available. The combination of flukes, coinfecting parasites, and available nutritional energy is important to calf survival in this population, highlighting the importance of managing multiple stressors for species conservation, although the effects are hard to disentangle given the high rates of survival observed. Identifying causes of mortality and mechanisms underlying increased mortality risk contributes to the continued conservation of moose in fluctuating populations and highlights the importance of managing parasite-induced disease.

New York↗
USGS2025

Parasite‐mediated competition limits dominant cervid competitor

Species interactions structure ecological communities through direct and indirect pathways with ecosystem-wide implications. Despite mounting interest in the importance of indirect interactions, empirical evidence remains limited. Here, we demonstrate the critical role of parasite-mediated competition in driving community outcomes in a multi-species system of conservation and management concern. We leveraged 2 years of detection/non-detection data of moose ( Alces alces ) and white-tailed deer ( Odocoileus virginianus ) and parasite loads in faecal samples within a hierarchical abundance-mediated interaction model to test hypotheses regarding interactions between these cervids and their shared parasites ( Parelaphostrongylus tenuis , Fascioloides magna ). We demonstrate that moose occupancy was limited by parasite-mediated competition, with no evidence of population-level effects of direct competitive interactions between moose and white-tailed deer. Such evidence of the importance of indirect interactions and resulting community outcomes is critical for species conservation and managing range contractions due to increasing pressures from habitat loss, disease and climate change.

New York↗
USGS2024

Environmental change drivers reduce sapling layer diversity in sugar maple-beech forests of aastern North America

A century of beech bark disease (BBD) in North America has transformed hardwood forests by reducing the canopy biomass of American beech ( Fagus grandifolia ), even as beech has come to dominate the sapling layer of many forests. We do not understand the extent to which environmental change drivers such as climate, acidic atmospheric deposition (and its legacy of acidified soils), and invasive disease (BBD) may have contributed to this transformation. We investigated how BBD effects and tree community composition varied along a well-documented soil acidity gradient in the northeastern United States. We surveyed overstory and sapling layer tree species composition, BBD effects, and soil chemistry on 30 watersheds in forests co-dominated by beech and sugar maple ( Acer saccharum ). We analyzed potential drivers of community composition, BBD, and beech sapling density using linear models and non-metric multidimensional scaling. Predictors accounted for soil chemistry, climate, overstory beech (importance value, IV), mortality, and BBD defect. Overall overstory species composition varied most along the acidity gradient, while beech and BBD severity varied along their own distinct environmental gradient. Species composition of the overstory and sapling layers diverged significantly, with the latter dominated by beech. Beech sapling density was positively related to the proportion of standing dead overstory beech and soil exchangeable aluminum, but was unrelated to the overall proportion of overstory beech or their BBD severity. The dominance of sapling layers by beech may have resulted from a gradual accumulation of canopy-opening events precipitated by BBD and sugar maple decline, the latter driven by stressors such as acidification and climate change.

New York↗
USGS2022

Watershed-scale liming reveals the short- and long-term effects of pH on the forest soil microbiome and carbon cycling

Soil microbial community composition routinely correlates with pH, reflecting both direct pH effects on microbial physiology and long-term biogeochemical feedbacks. We used two watershed-scale liming experiments to identify short- (2 years) and long-term (25 years) changes in the structure and function of bacterial and fungal communities in organic horizons (O e and O a ) of acid forest soils. Liming increased soil pH, extractable calcium, and soil carbon stocks, reduced biomass-specific respiration, and caused major changes in the soil microbiome in the short and long term. More taxa responded to liming in the short term (70%) than in the long term (30%), with most showing consistent directional responses at both sites. The ratio of change in relative abundance between limed and reference sites was twofold higher at the long than the short-term site, indicating that the effects of liming grew over time. Liming impacts were most pronounced in fungi, as steep declines of dominant ectomycorrhizal fungi ( Cenococcum and Russula ) occurred at both sites. Liming favoured neutrophilic bacteria over acidophilic populations according to estimated environmental pH optima. Collectively, these results demonstrate that a liming-induced change of one pH unit has an immediate and persistent effect on the structure and function of microbial communities in acid forest soils. The corresponding suppression of respiration indicates that anthropogenic alterations of soil pH, as driven by acid deposition or liming, can affect forest floor C stocks due to pH-driven shifts in community structure.

New York↗
USGS2022

Changes in stream chemistry in the east-central Adirondack region of New York State, 2010–2018

Decreased acidic deposition occurred through the 2010s, extending the long-term decrease begun in the early 1980s. The overall decline has resulted in rates of acidic deposition in the Adirondack region that are similar to those estimated for the early 1900s. This achievement increased attention on the issue of acidic deposition recovery and raised the question of how the low deposition levels of the 2010s were affecting the Adirondack region of New York State, where past acidic deposition effects were among the highest in the United States. This report presents stream resampling results of the East-Central Adirondack Stream Survey (ECASS), the Adirondack high-elevation stream sampling program, and the first five years of stream chemistry measurements in the Boreas River Long-Term Monitoring Watersheds. In addition, a regional comparison of stream chemistry between ECASS and the Western Adirondack Stream Survey (WASS) is presented. The primary objective of these stream resampling programs was to evaluate changes in stream chemistry during the 2010s to evaluate ongoing recovery of acidic deposition within the Adirondack region. Streams in the ECASS region (19,658 km 2 ) were sampled during spring snowmelt in 2011, 2017, and 2018; summer baseflow in 2010 and 2017; and late autumn in 2011 and 2017. ECASS stream sampling results for snowmelt in 2018 are also compared with WASS stream sampling results during snowmelt of the same year to provide a spatial assessment of stream chemistry for the entire Adirondack region. In addition, high-elevation streams were sampled in 2010-2011 and 2017 during spring snowmelt and summer baseflow, and three streams in the Boreas River watershed were sampled biweekly from 2014 through 2019. Streams were selected for sampling from the approximately 200 streams sampled originally in both the ECASS and WASS. The original ECASS and WASS streams were randomly selected from the populations of accessible streams within their respective regions. For the study reported here, subsets of streams were selected from the two original groups using a random stratified design based on the stream chemistry of the original ECASS and WASS. ECASS data are presented only for streams that were sampled in each of the seasonal surveys, which was 59, 48, and 61 streams for spring snowmelt, summer baseflow, and autumn surveys, respectively. WASS data are presented for 60 streams and high-elevation data are presented for 11 streams sampled during summer baseflow and 12 streams sampled during spring snowmelt. Overall, mean values of chemical measurements did not indicate large changes between 2010-2011 and 2017-2018 in the ECASS snowmelt, summer baseflow, or autumn surveys. Minimal acidification was observed in mean values measured in any of the surveys. Mean values of acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) remained above 80 microequivalents per liter (µeq L -1 ), mean pH remained above 6.37, and inorganic monomeric aluminum (Al i ) remained below 1.0 micromoles per liter (µmol L -1 ), with the exception of the mean value of 1.2 µmol L -1 in the 2017 autumn survey. However, in the 2017 and 2018 snowmelt samplings 15% and 10% of the streams, respectively, had Al i concentrations above 1.0 µmol L 1 , the concentration above which is toxic to fish. Based on the estimated total length of headwater streams in the ECASS region of 11,494 km, the 10% of ECASS streams that experienced harmful Al i concentrations (Al i >1.0 µmol L -1 ) during the 2018 snowmelt survey equated to a total length of 1,091 km of headwater stream length in the region. During both summer baseflow and snowmelt sampling, high-elevation streams were less acidic in 2017 than in 2010-2011. However, in 2017 the mean Al i concentration during snowmelt was 2.6 µmol L -1 , a value that reflected low to moderate toxicity to brook trout. Concentrations of Al i in 9 out of the 12 streams were above 1.5 µmol L -1 , which exceeds the value which impairs fish communities. Greater dilution of calcium (Ca 2+ ) concentrations than sulfate (SO 4 2- ) concentrations during snowmelt was a contributing factor to the more acidic stream water measured during snowmelt than summer baseflow. Comparison of 2018 ECASS and WASS snowmelt chemistry under the current low levels of acidic deposition indicated that the spatial pattern of acidification effects on stream chemistry is largely driven by inherent Ca 2+ availability tied to spatial variations in geologic factors that control acid buffering more effectively in the ECASS region than the WASS region. The higher degree of acidification in the WASS region than the ECASS region is likely to extend into the future as a result of the relatively high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in the WASS. Pronounced increasing trends in DOC and similarly pronounced decreasing trends in Ca 2+ and nitrate (NO 3 - ) were observed in the streams of all three Boreas River watersheds. These strong increasing DOC trends occurred in streams during a period with little or no indication of further chemical recovery from acidic deposition. The strong DOC trends in Durgin Brook and Balsam Brook, which are streams that are unlikely to have ever experienced more than minimal acidification, suggest the need for further investigation to expand our understanding of the mechanisms behind the increasing DOC trends.

New York↗
USGS2020

The response of streams to changes in atmospheric deposition of sulfur and nitrogen in the Adirondack Mountains

Acidic deposition is the result of upwind sulfur (S) and nitrogen (N) emissions into the atmosphere from human activities. Environmental impacts from acidic deposition across forested landscapes include acidification of soil and drainage water, depletion of available soil nutrient bases, and impacts to and changes in forest and aquatic species composition and biodiversity. Acidic deposition can mobilize aluminum (Al) from soil-to-soil solution and subsequently to drainage water in forms that can be toxic to aquatic life. When exposed to decreasing levels of acidic deposition, which has been occurring in New York since the late 1970s, some soils and drainage waters have become gradually less acidic. Remaining questions relate to effects on stream resources, anticipated resource recovery under increasingly lower levels of deposition, and the levels of deposition (target loads, TLs) needed to reach a range of stream ecosystem recovery targets. Environmental scientists commonly estimate thresholds of air pollutant emissions and resulting atmospheric deposition at which adverse ecological effects are manifested. This analysis is often done using critical loads (CL) and/or TLs, using approaches that account for the spatial and temporal aspects of acidification and recovery. Exceedance represents the extent to which current levels of acidic deposition exceed the level expected to cause ecological harm. The research reported here is intended to help address S and N deposition TLs and ecosystem recovery of Adirondack streams, a resource that has been less thoroughly investigated than lakes. The overarching goal of this work is to highlight key considerations that will help inform decision-makers and ecosystem managers who are responsible for environmental policy in New York State and beyond. Salient aspects of stream TL modeling are discussed with an aim of informing not only scientists, but also policymakers, ecosystem managers, and nonscientists who are required to make decisions related to the effects of acidic deposition on natural ecosystems. Analyses reported herein quantify relations among chemical indicators and metrics of fish community health and biodiversity in streams of the Adirondack Park. This information is used to indicate levels of atmospheric deposition necessary to alleviate harmful effects on fish populations. Results of this investigation provide a framework that can be applied to better understand how modeled stream acid neutralizing capacity (ANC) values that are developed to support TL investigations can be adjusted to reflect high-flow ANC values that may be associated with toxic conditions. Since process models are often calibrated to a low-flow or average flow condition, the magnitude and spatial extent of TL exceedances increase substantially when episodic acidification is considered.

New York↗
USGS2019

Relative contribution of climate and non-climate drivers in determining dynamic rates ofboreal birds at the edge of their range

The Adirondack Park in New York State contains a unique and limited distribution of boreal ecosystem types, providing habitat for a number of birds at the southern edge of their range. Species are projected to shift poleward in a warming climate, and the limited boreal forest of the Adirondacks is expected to undergo significant change in response to rising temperatures and changing precipitation patterns. Here we expand upon a previous analysis to examine changes in occupancy patterns for eight species of boreal birds over a decade (2007–2016), and we assess the relative contribution of climate and non-climate drivers in determining colonization and extinction rates. Our analysis identifies patterns of declining occupancy for six of eight species, including some declines which appear to have become more pronounced since a prior analysis. Although non-climate drivers such as wetland area, connectivity, and human footprint continue to influence colonization and extinction rates, we find that for most species, occupancy patterns are best described by climate drivers. We modeled both average and annual temperature and precipitation characteristics and find stronger support for species’ responses to average climate conditions, rather than interannual climate variability. In general, boreal birds appear most likely to colonize sites that have lower levels of precipitation and a high degree of connectivity, and they tend to persist in sites that are warmer in the breeding season and have low and less variable precipitation in the winter. It is likely that these responses reflect interactions between broader habitat conditions and temperature and precipitation variables. Indirect climate influences as mediated through altered species interactions may also be important in this context. Given climate change predictions for both temperature and precipitation, it is likely that habitat structural changes over the long term may alter these relationships in the future.

New York↗
USGS2019

Temporal changes in avian community composition in lowland conifer habitats at the southern edge of the boreal zone in the Adirondack Park, NY

Climate change represents one of the most significant threats to human and wildlife communities on the planet. Populations at range margins or transitions between biomes can be particularly instructive for observing changes in biological communities that may be driven by climate change. Avian communities in lowland boreal habitats in the Adirondack Park, located at the North American boreal-temperate ecotone, have been the focus of long-term monitoring efforts since 2007. By documenting long-term changes in community structure and composition, such datasets provide an opportunity to understand how boreal species are responding differently to climate change, and which habitat characteristics may be best able to retain boreal avian communities. We examined three specific questions in order to address how well current biological communities in Adirondack boreal wetland habitats are being maintained in a changing climate: (1) how do trends in occupancy vary across species, and what guilds or characteristics are associated with increasing or decreasing occupancy? (2) how is avian community composition changing differently across sites, and (3) what distinguishes sites which are retaining boreal birds to a higher degree than other sites? Our analysis revealed that (1) boreal species appear to exhibit the largest changes in occupancy among our study locations as compared to the larger avian community, (2) dynamics of community change are not uniform across sites and habitat structure may play an important role in driving observed changes, and (3) the particular characteristics of large open peatlands may allow them to serve as refugia for boreal species in the context of climate change.

New York↗
USGS2016

Assessing Brook Trout populations in headwater streams of the Adirondack Mountains using environmental DNA -- Summary report

This project evaluated standard fish-survey and environmental DNA (eDNA) sampling methods to determine the ability of eDNA to accurately predict the presence and abundance of resident Brook Trout populations in 40 headwater streams mainly in the western Adirondack Mountains during 2014–2015 (Figure 2). Standard 3-pass electrofishing surveys found that Brook Trout were absent from about 25 percent of study sites, and at low densities in 25 percent of sites, moderate densities in 25 percent of sites, and high densities in 25 percent of sites. Environmental DNA results correctly predicted the presence/absence of Brook Trout in 85.0 to 92.5 percent of study sites and explained 44.0 percent of the variability in density and 24 percent of the variability in biomass of their populations. The findings indicate that eDNA surveys will enable researchers to effectively characterize the presence as well as the abundance of Brook Trout and other species populations in headwater streams across the Adirondack Mountains and elsewhere.

New York↗
USGS2011

Changes in the chemistry of acidified Adirondack streams from the early 1980s to 2008

Lakes in the Adirondack region of New York have partially recovered in response to declining deposition, but information on stream recovery is limited. Here we report results of Adirondack stream monitoring from the early 1980s to 2008. Despite a 50% reduction in atmospheric deposition of sulfur, overall increases in pH of only 0.28 and ANC of 13 μeq L −1 were observed in 12 streams over 23 years, although greater changes did occur in streams with lower initial ANC, as expected. In the North Tributary of Buck Creek with high dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations, SO 4 2 &#x2212; "> SO42− concentrations decreased from 1999 to 2008 at a rate of 2.0 μmol L −1 y −1 , whereas in the neighboring South Tributary with low DOC concentrations, the decrease was only 0.73 μmol L −1 y −1 . Ca 2+ leaching decreased in the North Tributary due to the SO 4 2 &#x2212; "> SO42− decrease, but this was partially offset by an increase in Ca 2+ leaching from increased DOC concentrations.

New York↗
USGS1985

Chemistry and transport of soluble humic substances in forested watersheds of the Adirondack Park, New York

Studies were conducted in conjunction with the Integrated Lake-Watershed Acidification Study (ILWAS) to examine the chemistry and leaching patterns of soluble humic substances in forested watersheds of the Adirondack region. During the summer growing season, mean dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in the ILWAS watersheds ranged from 21–32 mg C l −1 in O/A horizon leachates, from 5–7 mg C l −1 in B horizon leachates, from 2–4 mg C l −1 in groundwater solutions, from 6–8 mg C l −1 in first order streams, from 3–8 mg C l −1 in lake inlets, and from 2–7 mg C l −1 in lake outlets. During the winter, mean DOC concentrations dropped significantly in the upper soil profile. Soil solutions from mixed and coniferous stands contained as much as twice the DOC concentration of lysimeter samples from hardwood stands. Results of DOC fractionation analysis showed that hydrophobia and hydrophilic acids dominate the organic solute composition of natural waters in these watersheds. Charge balance and titration results indicated that the general acid-base characteristics of the dissolved humic mixture in these natural waters can be accounted for by a model organic acid having an average p K a of 3.85, an average charge density of 4–5 μeq mg −1 C at ambient pH, and a total of 6–7 meq COOH per gram carbon.

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