September 4, 2026
If you have spent time out on the waters of Lake George this summer, there is a chance that you have seen LGA Scientists Dr. Elyce Buell and Carson Bruening conducting the 2026 Macrophyte Study. You might have seen them schmoozing up to the shore, looking down into the Queen of American Lakes’ clear waters, or simultaneously tossing a rake into the water and sorting through the mass of aquatic plants gathered.
While the value of these actions may not be immediately apparent, these methods will give us incredibly beneficial information regarding the Lake we all love.
What is a Macrophyte?
A macrophyte is a large aquatic plant. These plants are often vascular, meaning that they have systems in place to transport nutrients or minerals and they grow in or near a body of water. Macrophytes are great indicators of Lake health. Based on macrophyte distribution (including density and diversity) along multiple depths, scientists can assess plant community stability.
How are Macrophytes Surveyed?
For the 2026 Macrophyte Study, Dr. Elyce Buell and Carson Bruening are collecting macrophytes from 49 transects across Lake George. A transect is a line from deep to shallow where LGA’s researchers drive the boat towards the shore and complete a rake toss at 6 different depths along the transect so that we can understand which plants live at each depth.
Map of transects surveyed in the 1973-74 Lake George Macrophyte Survey (Collins et al., 1981).
Carson preparing to complete a rake toss for macrophyte collection along a transect.
A rake toss consists of throwing a weighted rake into the water. This rake sinks to the lake bottom, and the rake is slowly dragged back to the boat. Plants are grabbed by the rake teeth and collected for analysis.
Once the plants are collected from each transect, they are taken to the lab where they are identified and weighed.
Carson, joined by his father and volunteer, Glen Bruening, sort through collected macrophytes
2026 Macrophyte Study and Beyond
Even though the 2026 survey has yet to be completed, our researchers are already looking ahead. The LGA plans to repeat Macrophyte surveys every 3-5 years. This will give us even more information on how plant communities respond to stressors such as invasive species, changes in climate and other Lake threats.
The 1973-74 Macrophyte Study
Of auxiliary interest is comparing present day macrophyte distribution to a study conducted in the 1970s. Many of the 2026 Macrophyte Study transects were chosen to coincide with the survey conducted in 1973-74 (Collins et al., 1981). This comparison will help us to understand the long-term trends in plant communities, biomass, and invasive species populations. These results can help reveal how the Lake George plant communities have changed over the past 50 years and help us assess which threats to Lake George require the most immediate attention.
In the 1973-74 study, 27 macrophyte species were found (Collins et al., 1981). While the 2026 Macrophyte Study has yet to be completed, it will be exciting to see how the number of species and corresponding distribution has changed over the past 50 years. This information, alongside plant weights and depths, will help us learn how plant communities respond to stressors.
Thank you to our Science Team!
The 2026 Macrophyte Study is projected to wrap up its on-lake portion of the survey next week. In the meantime, Elyce and Carson will be out on Lake George collecting plants. If you see them, feel free to give them a wave and thank them for all their incredible work! The research they are conducting is incredibly valuable to our Lake and to our community. Thank you, Elyce and Carson!
Carson and Elyce pose with plants collected from a Sunset Bay transect!
