The Physical and Chemical Limnology of 24 Ponds and One Lake from Isachsen, Ellef Ringnes Island, Canadian High Arctic

• Published in: International Review of Hydrobiology
• Main Authors: Antoniades, Dermot, Douglas, Marianne S. V., Smol, John P.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2003
• Subjects: Arctic; Ellef Ringnes Island; Isachsen; Nunavut
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/iroh.200310665; https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Firoh.200310665; https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/iroh.200310665

Abstract The limnology of freshwaters surrounding Isachsen, Ellef Ringnes Island, Nunavut was examined to determine the baseline physical and chemical limnological conditions present in the region. Sites were found to be circumneutral to slightly acidic, and were oligotrophic. Concentrations of most measured chemical variables were highly variable, with broad ranges that greatly exceeded those found in previous surveys conducted in the High Arctic. Ratios of nitrogen to phosphorus suggest that nitrogen may be the limiting nutrient for algal growth at the majority of sites. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) indicated that the major controls on water chemistry variability between sites were conductivity and related variables, and nutrients, explaining 36.5% and 26.5% of the variation in the dataset, respec‐tively.