In my corner of eastern British Columbia we've h Greetings Ecologists, In my corner of eastern British Columbia we've had a warmer than average winter and a later than average date of freeze of our local lake (surface freezes completely, usually thick enough to drive on). Yet no one talks of "climate change," rather, some people have been attributing the thin ice to decaying aquatic plants. I assume this is because gases as a byproduct of decay bubble up, bringing +4 water to the surface-- but would decay be happening during the winter? We have a pretty shallow lake (maximum depth = 7 metres; average = 3 metres) and we haven't recorded thermal stratification in our lake in the spring, summer or fall. I would like to educate the community about how much of an influence decaying plants might be having on creating thin sections of ice on the lake. I would appreciate hearing your ideas on the impacts of decaying plants on ice melt and their possible relative contribution to thin ice.
Thanks so much! ~Kirsten Harma, MSc. Invermere, BC (my apologies for the repost -- the first posting appeared with a very strange format on Ecolog)
