• Lake Superior in a stormy mood. Photo copyright Craig Blacklock

    Pictured Rocks

    National Lakeshore Michigan

Other Invertebrates

An NPS employee testing for water quality while in an inflatable boat on Little Chapel Lake.

Little Chapel Lake

NPS photo

Zooplankton communities vary among the lakes. In addition, these communities vary seasonally and with depth within the same lake. To date, 35 taxa of cladocerans, 11 species of calanoid and cyclopoid copepods, and two genera of rotifers have been identified from eight lakes in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

As is typical, one cladoceran species, one calanoid copepod species, and one cyclopoid copepod species dominate the zooplankton community in a lake, with other species occurring at much lower relative frequencies. Dominant zooplankton taxa include the cladocerans Bosmina longirostris, Eurycercus lamellatus, Daphnia galeata mendotae, Holopedium gibberum, and Pseudochydorus globosus; the calanoid copepods Skistodiaptomus oregonensis, Epischura lacustris; the cyclopoid copepods Cyclops vernalis and Diacyclops bicuspidatus thomasi; and rotifers of the genus Keratella.

Did You Know?

Kingston Lake Campground, owned State of Michigan, is located within Pictured Rocks NL's inland buffer zone.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is the only National Park Service area with an inland buffer zone within its boundary. It is owned by the State of Michigan, corporations, and private citizens. The zone was created to permit sustained yield timber harvest and protect the watershed. More...