Usefulness of natural regions for lake management: Analysis of variation among lakes in northwestern Wisconsin,USA

A map of summer total phosphorus in lakes was compiled recently for a three-state area of the upper Midwest for purposes of identifying regional patterns of total phosphorus in lakes and attainable lake trophic state. Spatial patterns in total phosphorus from approximately 3000 lakes were studied in conjunction with maps of geographic characteristics that tend to affect phosphorus balance in lakes to identify regions of similarity in phosphorus concentrations in lakes or similarity in the mosaic of values as compared to adjacent areas. While degrees of relative homogeneity are apparent at many scales, the map was designed at a scale that would yield regions with sufficient homogeneity to be useful for lake management throughout the area. In this study, data from 210 lakes in a 1560-mi² area in northwestern Wisconsin, sampled by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources in the spring of 1988 (subsequent to the compilation of the phosphorus map), were examined to: (1) substantiate the existence of the regions depicted on the map in northwest Wisconsin, (2) determine the nature and relative precision of the regional boundaries, (3) determine the relative importance of natural and anthropogenic watershed characteristics, lake types, lake area, and lake depth in explaining within-region differences in lake phosphorus, and (4) demonstrate how the regions might be used by local lake managers.