Stephan Zeeman interviewed by 'Sun Journal’ on lake health in Norway, Maine, area
Stephan Zeeman, Ph.D., professor in the Department of Marine Sciences, was interviewed by the Sun Journal for an article on the health of lakes and ponds in the Norway, Maine, region. The article focused on a report published by Zeeman earlier this year discussing the work done by citizen scientists for more than 40 years on the region.
According to Zeeman, the lakes are fairly healthy and contain no invasive aquatic plants -- only Chinese Mystery snails, whose ecological effects remain unstudied. Trends show that indicators, such as total phosphorus concentrations, may be declining in the surface waters, which is a sign of improvement. However, trends in bottom water dissolved oxygen are showing declines, indicating higher inputs of organic matter, which is not healthy. The citizen scientists are working to persuade land owners to minimize runoff and create protective vegetation buffers between developed land and water bodies to prevent nutrients and pollutants from entering the water.
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