Long-term Fish Population Trends
in Florida Lakes: 2003 Data

We thank everyone who helped continue the Florida LAKEWATCH long-term fish monitoring program, especially personnel from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences at The University of Florida. The fifth year was successful collecting data on 32 Florida LAKEWATCH lakes (Table 1). This report contains a summary of both the electrofishing (27 water bodies) and trawl (8 water bodies) sampling conducted from 1998 -2003. The report also includes the following data that have been collected for Florida LAKEWATCH or for other research projects:

1 . Florida LAKEWATCH water chemistry data:

a. Location of water body (Latitude and Longitude),
b. Period of record of sampling,
c. Surface area (Dickinson at al. 1982, Shafer at ad. 1986, or Florida LAKEWATCH)
d. Florida Lake Region (Griffin at al. 1997).
e. Geologic and physiographic regions (Brooks 1981),
f. Supplemental water chemistry data: pH, total alkalinity, conductance, color, chloride, iron, silicon, sulfate, calcium, magnesium, sodium, and potassium.
g. Long-term and monthly Florida LAKEWATCH averages for total phosphorus, total nitrogen, chlorophyll, and Secchi depth.

2. Florida LAKEWATCH aquatic plant survey data:

a. Percent Area Covered by macrophytes (PAC),
b. Percent Volume Inhabited with aquatic macrophytes (PVI),
c. Above-ground standing crop of emergent, floating-leafed, and submerged vegetation (kg /M 2),
d. Average width (m) of the floating-leafed and emergent zones,
e. Average lake depth (m), and
f. A list of all plant species found according to the frequency in which they occurred.

The fish data in this report are summary data and are compared with data collected from 60 Florida lakes (Canfield and Hoyer 1992) ranging in trophic status and aquatic macrophyte abundance. This was done to allow citizens and professional to examine the data in relation to a range of other Florida lakes. While this report only presents summary data, the raw data, including information on fish sizes, are available on request. To obtain a copy of these data contact the Florida LAKEWATCH office

Download PDF Files of the Report

The report has been divided into three sections to make it easier to download. Following the introductory materials, the report is organized by lake name. Click on the appropriate link to gain access to the PDF file which contains data for the lake(s) in which you are interested. The PDF file will automatically download to your desktop(or load online in you have the Acrobat plug-in for your browser) and then you can read it in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat Reader you can download it for free. Click here if you need it.

The PDF files give you access to information on fish, aquatic plants, water chemistry, etc. These files will enable you to print out the entire report as well as individual pages.

The fish data included are summary data and are compared with data collected from 60 Florida lakes ranging in trophic state status and aquatic macrophyte abundance. Raw data, including information on fish sizes, are available on request from Florida LAKEWATCH. 

PDF - Introduction and Index

PDF - Lakes A -J

PDF - Lakes K - W

For Citation:
Florida LAKEWATCH 2003. Long-term fish population trends in Florida lakes: 2003 data. Department of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Library, University of Florida. Gainesville, Florida

Florida LAKEWATCH
7922 NW 71st Street
Gainesville, FL 32653-3071
352/392-4817  Fax 352/392-4902
1-800-LAKEWATCH (525-3928)
E-mail  fl-lakewatch@ufl.edu

Page updated July 8, 2008