Scientific Symposium at Crater Lake National Park
Park Science, Vol. 12, No. 4
Fall 1992, pp. 14
National Park Service
Dept. of Interior
“Crater Lake NP: Still Beautiful at 90” is the title of the scientific symposium held at the park in May of this year, at which many scientists, who have been studying Crater Lake since a 1962 act of Congress boosted research efforts, reported on their work.
“It’s becoming increasingly clear that Crater Lake is a dynamic system (that) changes and fluctuates over time,” said Gary Larson, associate professor of forest resources at Oregon State University and leader of the NPS/CPSU there. “Some of these changes, m&ding such things as the water level, clarity, and production of plant and animal life, appear to be cyclical.” he said. mere are seasonal, annual, and long term fluctuations, but we’re not certain of the exact nature of these cycles It’s safe to say that at this point research on Crater Lake is still gearing up. not down.”
A new role for the lake emerged-as “The world’s largest rain gauge.” One of the newest projects is using the lake as a barometer of global climate change and learning what effects climate, m turn, will have on the lake, Larson said. For instance, the lake’s water level dropped 16 feet during the “dust bowl” of the 1930s. It later rose to levels approximating those of the last turn of the century. and in the 1980s has again dropped about 6 feet.
