Assessing Hydraulic Modifications on Vallisneria americana in Peoria Lake, Illinois. A Pilot Study Using Data Sharing Protocols to Integrate Legacy Models

摘要

A pilot modeling study was conducted to assess the utility of implementing the Land Management System's (LMS) Level II Protocols for the efficient sharing of data among legacy models and GIS tools. The modeling was directed toward an investigation of potential population increase of the submersed macrophyte Vallisneila americana as a consequence of the construction of a hypothetical levee in the north-south direction in Upper Peoria Lake, Illinois. Numerical models were used to simulate the behavior of the lake in terms of hydrodyamics, sediment concentration, and aquatic plant biomass production for one growth season in 1996 from 1 May to 31 October. Two scenarios were modeled: 1) the current condition without levee, and 2) a hypothetical situation with a levee created in the north-south direction. The model results indicated that the presence of the levee would increase the maximum plant biomass of Vallisneria moderately to greatly in the northern part and along the shores of Upper Peoria Lake, but decreased it in the southern part and along the edges of Lower Peoria Lake. It also would allow the presence of considerably higher tuber numbers at the end of the growth season. The latter would enable a larger plant population to form the subsequent year. Thus, the results of this pilot study indicate that the creation of a levee in the north-south direction may lead to an increase in the Vallisneria population in Peoria Lake. It must be noted, however, that without the levee the water column remains turbid longer than in this modeled situation, because the predominant sediment class has a lower fall velocity and the sediment is resuspended in this wind-exposed lake. The integrated models and tools used in the study were readily available and merely required specific data in appropriate, model-specific formats. A Level II architecture was implemented that promoted efficient data exchange between models and GIS tools.