A Lakeside Companion

ISBN-13: 9780299320003 / Angielski / Twarda / 2018 / 208 str.

Ted J. Rulseh

Spis treści

• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• 1. Basics
• Putting in the pier
• How the glaciers did their work
• How precious is water?
• It’s all connected
• The impact of landscape position
• Your lake is not an island
• How lakes get their water
• How long does your lake’s water stay?
• In the zone
• Stories in sediment: Paleolimnology
• Trophic status—one way to classify lakes
• That all-important oxygen
• Your lake has layers
• Thin soup
• It all starts with the sun
• How clear is your lake?
• The color of water
• Light in the water
• Wave energy
• Your lake has a “skin”
• How acid or alkaline is your lake?
• The nitrogen cycle
• How phosphorus behaves
• How to know your lake better than almost everyone
• 2. Fins
• Fish anatomy: How they’re built
• Fish behavior: How they act and survive
• Angling interludes
• Species we treasure
• 3. Frozen
• The lake in autumn
• Closing time
• Smoke on the water
• The lid goes on
• The hard work of freezing
• Here’s why lakes don’t freeze solid
• Why won’t moving water freeze?
• The glass-bottomed boat
• Oxygen and temperature
• Just you and the otter
• Who made those tracks in the snow?
• Amazing ice
• Why is it slippery?
• An icy hurdle finally cleared
• How much weight can it hold?
• If you fell through
• Crystal candles
• To the new year
• Late ice
• The lake unveiled
• What a difference a few days make
• Daylight Saving Time
• 4. Creatures
• The ring of life
• Zooplankton
• Snapping turtles
• Painted turtles: Here’s why they bask
• Bats: Night shadows
• Clams and mussels: Not just stationary objects
• Dragonfly riot
• Fresh live bait
• Damselflies: Glow sticks with wings
• Fishing spiders
• Frogs: Players in the band
• Tadpoles and pollywogs
• Meet the muskrat
• Water striders: Row, row, row your bug
• Crayfish: Freshwater lobsters
• Travels etched in snow
• Mayflies: Up from the bottom
• Midges: Those little white flies
• Water snake: Slippery, stealthy, unnerving, harmless
• Whirligig beetles: Can’t catch this!
• 5. Feathers
• Any day, any season
• Hooded merganser: With a “broken wing”
• Duckling survival
• Eagle efficiency
• Fish hawk
• Great blue heron
• Kingfisher: What’s that rattle?
• Wood ducks
• Common mergansers: Two pair
• Swallows: Master aviators
• Loons: Crown jewels of the lake
• 6. Greenery
• Why do we call them weeds?
• How water plants spread
• Amazing algae
• Pondweeds: Forests of the lakes
• Fishermen’s friend: Large-leaf pondweed
• Northern blue flag: A beauty to behold
• Milfoils: They’re not all invasive
• Duckweeds: Free floaters
• Three kinds of pads
• Hearts and arrows: Pickerelweed and arrowhead
• What’s the rush?
• Coontail conundrum
• Wild celery
• Bladderworts: Carnivorous vegetables
• 7. Caring
• 180.5 acres
• Water quality: What’s it worth?
• Dark at night: What a concept!
• Taking care of the fish
• Getting warmer
• The best gift you can give your lake
• Who owns the waters?
• A salty dilemma
• The wood makes it good
• If the bad guys were bigger
• Who looks out for your lake?
• Teaching kids to love the lake
• If everybody did
• Blazes of glory
• Suggested Readings