120 College of Forestry 
BB. APPLICATION “OF » THE QUANTEEA ya: 
METHOD TO ONEIDA LAKE. 
Investigations similar to those carried on by Dr. Petersen, 
described in the last section, have not been conducted in 
America, but there is every reason to believe that such studies 
would be of very great value in helping to solve some of the 
problems which confront us in the carrying on of fish con- 
servation policies. Some work has been done and much 
information gathered concerning the kind of food normally 
eaten by fish and other animals, but studies on the food value 
of a lake from the standpoint of all the animals living in the 
Jake are unknown to the writer. Given the amount of avail- 
able food per square or cubic unit, and its increase during a 
certain period, and given the amount of food consumed per 
day by the other animals present, it is comparatively easy to 
estimate from these factors, the number of animals (as fish) 
which a given lake will support. To obtain these figures, 
however, it is necessary to make a large number of observa- 
tions on both the physical characteristics of the lake and the 
animal and plant communities. In other words we must 
study the metabolism of the lake as we would study the 
metabolism of an animal. Asa contribution toward this end, 
the data set forth in this report is presented. 
1. QUANTITATIVE STUDIES. 
Lack of time during the 1915 field season prevented the 
carrying out of precise and exhaustive quantitative studies on 
Oneida Lake. As it was desired to cover as much of the 
lake as possible in a preliminary examination, an exact count 
of organisms from a known area was attempted in but a few 
places. From these, however, some sort of an idea may be 
obtained of the richness of the molluscan fauna. 
Methods of Obtaining Data. On a rocky shore all of the 
individuals were collected from an area estimated to be one 
foot square. In the sandy habitats, the bottom was scraped 
from an area approximately 12 x 12 inches with the Walker 
