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By Caden Fanshaw

Bednesti Lake

Research looks into human impact on aquatic plant life at Bednesti Lake

Jul 5, 2021 | 6:44 PM

PRINCE GEORGE – The reason for this research blossomed with the algal blooms in Bednesti Lake over recent years.

Back then, questions were raised about the health of the lake and now some of those questions are being answered

Dr. Roy Rea and his Grad Student Katie Tribe did research, measuring the distance between structures and the lake, and doing a lot of looking underwater to see what was growing nearby.

Tribe says 16 human-caused disturbances and 10 natural disturbances were analyzed to see how much of an impact people truly have on aquatic plant life.

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“We found six of those having an impact on individual aquatic plants, so if there was a sandy beach we would tend not to see one type of plant,, but you might see another type of plant.” says Tribe.

Overall what they found was a chain reaction, when a type of aquatic plant like a lily pad was removed, other plants disappeared too.

In a bigger picture, the impacts Tribe and Dr. Rea found were less than initially expected.

Tribe says she was expecting to see a major difference between natural areas compared to areas already developed by humans, instead, that was not the case.

There is reason for concern though says Tribe, to remember every impact even minor ones can add up over time, and harm an ecosystem.

No invasive species were found either at Bednesti or Berman Lake, a good sign considering a troubling trend across lakes in Northern BC.