The Ecology of Loch Lomond

179 Pages·1994·13.588 MB·English

by  Brian Moss, Penny Johnes, Geoffrey Phillips (auth.), K. J. Murphy, M. C. M. Beveridge, R. Tippett (eds.)

The Ecology of Loch Lomond
Developments in Hydrobiology 101
Series editor
H. J. Dumont
The Ecology of Loch Lomond
Edited by
K.J. Murphy, M.C.M. Beveridge & R. Tippett
Reprinted from Hydrobiologia, voi. 290 (1994)
SPRINGER SCIENCE+BUSINESS MEDIA, BV.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A C.I.P. Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISBN 978-94-010-4326-7 ISBN 978-94-011-0758-7 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-0758-7
Printed an acid-free paper
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© 1994 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1994
Softcover reprint of the hardcover lst edition 1994
No par! of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or
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v
Contents
Foreword VB
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Glasgow University Field Station at Rossdhu, Loch Lomond: the first British University Fresh
water Field Station
by P.S. Maitland &J.D. Hamilton IX
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An introduction to Loch Lomond
by R. Tippett ... Xl
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Section I: The physical and chemical environment of Loch Lomond and its catchment
August Thienemann and Loch Lomond - an approach to the design of a system for monitoring
the state ofnorth-temperate standing waters
by B. Moss, P. Johnes & G. Phillips
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Geology ofthe Loch Lomond catchment
by JoG. MacDonald 13
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Aspects ofthe hydrology and hydrography ofLoch Lomond
by J.e. Curran &T. Poodle 21
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The physico-chemical limnology of Loch Lomond
by G.A. Best & I. Traill ... 29
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Environmental change and the chemical record in Loch Lomond sediments
by J.G. Farmer .. 39
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Assessment ofeutrophication in Loch Lomond by desk analysis
by I.D.M. Gunn, A.E. Bailey-Watts & A.A. Lyle 0.......... 51
Section II: The biology and ecology of Loch Lomond and its catchment
Vegetation and land use in the Loch Lomond catchment
by G. Dickinson 53
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Freshwater and wetland plant communities ofLoch Lomond
by K.J. Murphy, K.D. Hudson & J. Mitchell 63
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Zooplankton in Loch Lomond: perspectives, predation and powan
by P.P. Pomeroy 75
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The fish community of Loch Lomond, Scotland: its history and rapidly changing status
by C.E. Adams 91
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The importance ofLoch Lomond National Nature Reserve for Fish
by A.A. Lyle & PoS. Maitland 103
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The ecology oflampreys (Petromyzonidae) in the Loch Lomond area
by P.S. Maitland, K.H. Morris & K. East 105
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Life histories ofthe powan, Coregonus lavaretus (L.) (Salmonidae, Coregoninae) ofLoch Lomond
and Loch Eck
by E.A.R. Brown & D.B.e. Scott 121
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Elevated predation risk associated with inshore migrations offish in a large lake, Loch Lomond,
Scotland
by c.E. Adams, DoW. Brown & L. Keay 135
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VI
The ecology ofthe River Endrick: present status and changes since 1960
by c.R. Doughty & P.S. Maitland ............................................... 139
The ecology ofpelagic communities in Lochan Dubh
by R. Tippett. ................................................................ 153
Section III: Issues affecting Loch Lomond and its catchment
Report on the discussion
by A.K. Turner '................................................. 167
Hydrobiologia 290, 1994.
K.J. Murphy. M.C.M. Beveridge & R. Tippet!(eds). The Ecology01Loch Lomond. VB
Foreword
'You'll take the high road and I'll take the low road
And I'll be in Scotland afore yeo
Where me and my true love will never meet again
On the bonnie bonnie banks ofLoch Lomond.'
These words were reputedly written by a Scottish soldier awaiting execution in an English jail after
fighting for Bonnie Prince Charles and the]acobite cause in 1745. Loch Lomond has long held a spe
cial place in the hearts ofall the people of Scotland not only for its historic significance but also for the
beauty ofits countryside. Less widely known is the ecological importance ofthe area. It is the largest
stretch offreshwater in Britain and the only loch to be crossed by the Highland Boundary Fault, one
ofthe country's most important geological features.
The University ofGlasgow has recognised the importance ofthis loch situated so near to the main
campus and since 1948 has operated a field station on its shores. In the mid 1960's the Field Station
was re-established at Rowardennan as an all year round facility with laboratory and living accommo
dationforresidentresearch workers andvisitingfield courses. In 1992asymposiumwas held tocelebrate
the 25th anniversary ofthe opening ofthe new station and this volume presents the proceeding ofthat
symposium. The programme ofinvited presentations was planned to review the state ofour knowledge
ofLoch Lomond and its catchment.
In addition to thanking all contributors to the volume for all the help they have given to the editors,
we particularly acknowledge the following for refereeing the papers:
B. Bluck, Department of Geology, University ofGlasgow, U.K.
C. Boylen, Rensselaer Freshwater Institute, New York, U.S.A.
]. Caffrey, Central Fisheries Board, Dublin, Ireland.
R. Doughty, Clyde River Purification Board, East Kilbride, U.K.
N. Giles, The Game Conservancy, Fordingbridge, U.K.
]. Hamilton, University of Paisley, U.K.
A. Ibbotsen, Institute ofAquaculture, University of Stirling, U.K.
D. Mackay, Norhtheast River Purification Board, Aberdeen, U.K.
G. Pender, Department of Civil Engineering, University ofGlasgow, U.K.
I. Pulford, Department ofChemistry, University ofGlasgow, U.K.
B. Rorslett NIVA, Oslo, Norway
P. Wade, ICOLE, University of Loughborough, U.K.
KJ. MURPHY
M.C.M. BEVERIDGE
R. TIPPETT
Hydrobiologia290:ix-x, 1994.
K. 1.Murphy, M. C. M. Beveridge& R. Tippett(eds), TheEcologyofLochLomond. IX
©1994.KluwerAcademicPublishers.
Glasgow University Field Station at Rossdhu, Loch Lomond:
the first British University Freshwater Field Station
Peter S. Maitland1& James D. Hamilton2
1Fish ConservationCentre, EasterCringate, Stirling FK79QX, Scotland, UK;
265MainRoad, Elderslie, JohnstonePA5 9AZ, Scotland, UK
Introduction had later been deposited in the HunterianMuseum by
Sir John Murray. With these simple resources Harry
In the contextofthe 25th Anniversary ofthe Univer Slack and his many colleagues carried out much of
sity Field Station at Rowardennan it was natural to thebasicresearchonLochLomondfrom theRossdhu
recall the earlier Glasgow University Field Station at Station,buteventually in 1964,thankstotheeffortsof
Rossdhu and the contribution which it and those who SirMaurice Yonge and the generosity oftheNuffield
worked there made to knowledgeofthe limnology of Foundation, a new University Field Station was com
LochLomondand itscatchment. pleted onthe opposite sideofthe loch, 5 krn south of
Although some investigations ofthe limnology of Rowardennan.
LochLomondhadbeencarriedoutpreviously,theini During the existence of the Rossdhu Field Sta
tiation in 1938 by Dr Harry Slack of a field course tion many scientists spent substantial periods oftime
in limnology was the stimulus for much subsequent thereandmuchsignificantresearchwasaccomplished.
research. Interrupted by the Second World War, the This included thefirst majorstudies ofthe sediments,
coursewasresumed in 1946,workingoutofBalmaha. zoobenthos,planktonandfishofLochLomond(Slack,
Laterin 1946, field laboratories wereassembledfrom 1957).Inaddition, thefirst majorattempttostudybit
ex-army huts on the west side of the loch at Rossd ingmidgesinScotlandandthefeasibilityofcontrolling
hu. This was a novel venture and for many years it them was carried out here (Kettle, 1952). Alongside
remained the only such station in aBritish University. this extensive work on Loch Lomond, studies ofoth
Much ofthe baseline research on Loch Lomond was er waters in its catchment - both lochs and rivers
carriedoutfromRossdhuby variousworkers,manyof were also carried out (e.g. Hamilton, 1958; Maitland,
whom pursued subsequentcareers in freshwater biol 1962).Aswellastheseresearchactivities,severalhun
ogy. dred students attended field courses at Rossdhu over
theperiodofitsexistence(Slack, 1958).
TheRossdhuFieldStation
Thestaff
Followingthesuccessoftheearlyfield courses,inthe
autumn of 1946 field laboratories were built on the The main partIcIpants at the Rossdhu Field Sta
west side of Loch Lomond in the policies ofRossd tion in work related to freshwater ecology were as
hu House (Yonge, 1947). The site on the shoreofthe follows: H. D. Slack (sediments and zoobenthos),
loch was providedby SirlainColquhounofLussand R. M. Badcock (stream benthos), A. D. Berrie (mol
some funding was provided by a second benefactor, luscs), W. Burton (equipment design), M. A. Chap
Sir Harold Bowden. The station was built, furnished man (zooplankton), 1. A. Downes (midge control),
and equipped at relatively small expense- advantage A. N. Fedoruk (zoobenthos),1. F. Flannagan (limnol
being taken ofthe abundance of war surplus materi ogy),F. W. K. Gervers(fish), J. D. Hamilton(fish and
als. Other equipment was that which had been used zooplankton), A. E. Henderson (molluscs), D. S. Ket
in the Challenger expeditions and in the bathymetric tle (midgecontrol),1. W. H. Lawson (midgecontrol),
survey of Scottish lochs (Murray & Pullar, 1910); it W. W. Macdonald (midge control), P. S. Maitland
x
(fish and stream benthos), A. H. Parker (midge con Itis believedthat, initslifetime,theRossdhuField
trol), W. D. Russell Hunter(molluscs), D. B. C. Scott Stationfulfilled theobjectivesandhopesofthosewho
(fish), A. Todd (limnology), A. H. Weatherley (fish), created it. 'Valuableas teachingcentres, the laborato
A. C. J. Weerekoon (zoobenthos) and P. K. H. Yeoh ries will be at leastas importantas bases for research
(streambenthos). work overa wide range ofsubjects, some purely sci
Unfortunately it was not possibleto obtain details entific,others,itishoped,ofvalueintheimprovement
ofalltheseworkersbutmostwerecoveredintheposter offisheries or in the control ofinsect pests.' (Yonge,
which this papersummarises. The posteralsoshowed 1947).
the two major research vessels used at Rossdhu - the
'Ivan' and the 'Fiona'.
DrHarry Slackwasclearly the leading lightin the Acknowledgments
development and construction of both the old Field
Station at Rossdhu and the new one at Rowarden Theauthorsarepleasedtothankallthosewhorespond
nan (Maitland, 1983). The prospect ofextending the ed to the request for information: without their help
knowledgeoftheecologyofthefresh waters ofScot there would have been no poster and only an inade
land on so broad and firm a foundation as that laid quatearchive.
down by the classical workofthe bathymetricsurvey
at the beginningofthe century was acogentfactor in
his initiating a novel course in freshwater biology at References
LochLomondin 1938forsciencestudentsatGlasgow
University. At first, all equipment had to be carried Hamilton, 1. D., 1958. On the biology of H%pedium gibberum
Zaddach(Crustacea:Cladocera).Verh.int.Ver.Limnol. 14:435
from the University to the loch and installed in boats
439.
whichwerehiredthereatBalmaha.Unfortunately,this
Kettle, D.S., 1952. Midge(Cu/icoides) controlinScotland.Trans.
startwas interruptedby theSecondWorld War, butin Int.Congr.Ent.9:935-938.
the spring of 1946, immediately after his demobilisa Maitland, P. S. 1962. Bathynella natans, new to Scotland. Glasg.
Nat. 18: 175-176.
tion,Harryagainorganisedstudentfield workonLoch
Maitland, P. S., 1983. Harry DawsonSlack. YearBook, Roy. Soc.
Lomond,outofBalmahaand,asnotedabove,thissoon Edin. 1983: 180-183.
led tothedevelopmentoftheRossdhu FieldStation. Murray,1.&L.Pullar, 1910.Bathymetricalsurveyofthefreshwater
lochsofScotland. Edinburgh,Challenger.
Slack,H.D., 1957.StudiesonLochLomond.I.Glasgow,Blackie.
Slack,H. D., 1958.StudyingLochLomond.Scott.Field. 105,668:
Conclusions 30-31.
Yonge,C.M., 1947.FieldstudiesonLochLomond.Field. 1947: I.
Theposterdisplayonwhichthispaperisbasedpresent
edmemoriesofmostofthosewhoworkedatRossdhu
andrecordedtheirachievementsthenand laterintheir
careers. The items displayed (which included a pho
tograph ofeach worker), together with othermaterial
collectedduringthepreparationoftheposterwillform
thebasisofanarchivewhichwillbeheldatthepresent
University Field StationatRowardennan.
Hydrobiologia 290:xi-xv, 1994.
K.J. Murphy, M. C.M. Beveridge& R.Tippett(eds), TheEcologyofLochLomond. Xl
@1994.KluwerAcademicPublishers.
An introduction to Loch Lomond
Roger Tippett
DepartmentofZoology, The University, GlasgowGI28QQ, UK
Key words: LochLomond,morphometry,thermalstratification
LochLomondisthelargestareaoffreshwaterinGreat
Table1. ComparativemorphometricdatafromfourofScot-
Britain. It is situated near Glasgow, the largest cen
land'slargestlochs(rankinbrackets).
tre of population in Scotland and more than half the
populationofScotland, about2.6million people, live Lomond Ness Awe Morar
within one hour'sjourney time ofthe shores (Hamil
Length(km) 36.25 38.75 40.75 18.7
ton, 1988).
(3) (2) (I) (10)
Ithasalongand interesting placein thehistory of
Maximumdepth(m) 190.5 230.5 93.86 310.9
thestudy oflimnology,and in 1946Glasgow Univer
(3) (2) (15) (I)
sityestablishedaresearchstation onthe westshoreat
Meandepth(m) 37.1 132.4 32.1 86.8
Rossdhu. In 1965 this was moved to the present site (16) (I) (20) (2)
near the Ross Peninsula at Rowardennan on the east Area(km2) 70.27 55.76 38.02 26.37
shore. The twenty fifth anniversary ofthe opening of (I) (2) (3) (5)
thenewstation wascelebratedbyasymposiumonthe Volume(x106m2) 2652 7520 1242 2329
Limnology ofLoch Lomond and its catchment, held (2) (I) (5) (3)
atStirlingUniversity in 1992.This volumecomprises
papersfrom the presentations at that symposium, and
thisintroductionaimsatgivingageneraldescriptionof
theconditionswithinthelochbasinanditscatchment.
Thisbackgroundinformationmay helpin understand
subsidiaryones(Fig. 1).Thenorthernmostbasinisthe
ingthepapersfrom thesymposium.
Ardluibasin,extendingto50mdepthandasfarSouth
In all the major morphometric features, Loch
as Island I Vow (3 km). The Tarbet or North basin
LomondisoneofthemostimpressiveofBritainslakes.
extends from Island I Vow southwards for a distance
Table 1presentscomparativedatafor LochsLomond,
of about 14 km. It has a maximum width of 1.5 km
Ness, Awe and Morar taken from Murray & Pullar
and maximumdepth of190m. This basin is thus ofa
(1910) suitably metricated. From these data itcan be
typicallyPiedmonttype(Hutchinson, 1957).TheLuss
seento bethe largestsurfacearea, secondlargestvol
(mid)basinextends5.5kmsouthfromRowardennanto
ume, although only a little more than one third the
InchLonaig,hasamaximumbreadthofapproximately
volumeofLochNess, andthird longestanddeepest.
3.5 km and extends to 60 m depth. The Strathcashel
Loch Lomond lies between Lat. 56 ON and
basin is effectively a sub-basin ofthe Luss basin, is
56°19'N,andLong.4°30'Wand4°43'W.Adetailed
about40mdeepand liestotheSouthandEastofInch
bathymetric chart of the loch was published by the
Lonaig.
Admiralty in 1861 and this still forms the basis for
The northern limit of the South or Fault basin is
modern navigation maps. A further bathymetric sur
thechainofislandsincludingInchTavannach,Moan,
vey was carried out by Murray & Pullar (1910). The
Cruin and Fad. From there it extends 8 km South to
lochisdividedintothreemain basinswithanumberof
the outflow via the river Leven at Balloch. It has a