LAKE ERIE SOURCE TRACKING OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS

Douglas D. Kane1, dkane@defiance.edu,Joseph D. Conroy2,3, conroy.27@osu.edu, Justin D. Chaffin4, justin.chaffin@rockets.utoledo.edu,Thomas B. Bridgeman4, tbridge@UTNet.UToledo.Edu

1Natural Science and Mathematics Division, Defiance College, Defiance, OH 43512. 2Inland Fisheries Research Unit, Division of Wildlife, Ohio Department of Natural

Resources, Hebron, OH 43025.3Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal

Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43212 4Department of Environmental Sciences and Lake Erie Center, University of

Toledo, Oregon, OH 43616.

Outline

• Problem• Approach• Methods• Results• Conclusions

Problem• Microcystis blooms have become more frequent

and larger in Lake Erie in the last 10-15 years

August 2003-OhioLink

Approach• Use contemporaneous sampling (within 1 week)

in the Maumee River, Maumee Bay, and Lake Erie to determine location/quantity of Microcystis

• T1T1= The Bend• T2T2 = Rt. 66 Bridge• T3T3 = Independence

Dam• T4 T4 = Mary Jane

Thurston State Park• T5T5= Farnsworth

Metropark

LEAST Sampling Sites

• T1T1= The Bend• T2T2 = Rt. 66 Bridge• T3T3 = Indendence Dam• T4 T4 = Mary Jane Thurston

State Park• T5T5= Farnsworth Metropark

T1T1 T2T2 T3T3

T4T4 T5T5

Methods

• Boats/ Wading• YSI Multiprobe and

PAR meter• Fluoroprobe• Water Samples

– Nutrients– Chlorophyll a– Phytoplankton

– Microcystis

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in the Maumee River

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Soluble Reactive Phosphorus

Site- p<0.001Month- p<0.001Site X Month- p<0.001

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Chlorophyll a

Site- p<0.001Month- p<0.001Site X Month- p<0.001

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in % Cyanobacteria (Fluoroprobe)

Site- p<0.001Month- p<0.001Site X Month- p<0.001

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in % Microcystis (microscopic)

June August September

Month

% Microcystis

of T

otal

Phy

topl

ankt

on B

iom

ass

0

20

40

60

80

100

The BendRoute 66 BridgeIndependence DamMary Jane Thurston State ParkFarnsworth Metropark

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in the Maumee System

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Soluble Reactive Phosphorus

Month

June August September

SR

P ( g

/L)

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

RiverBayLake

Location- p<0.001Month- p<0.001Location X Month- p<0.001

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Chlorophyll a

Month

June August September

Chl

orop

hyll a

(g/

L)

0

20

40

60

80

RiverBayLake

Location- p=0.136Month- p=0.034Location X Month- p=0.272

Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Secchi Depth

Month

June August September

Sec

chi D

epth

(cm

)

0

50

100

150

200

250

RiverBayLake

Location- p<0.001Month- p=0.130Location X Month- p= 0.041

Secchi Transparency vs. Chlorophyll a

F1,31 = 9.6

p = 0.004r2 = 0.24

Conclusions• High levels of SRP (>100 μg/L!), phytoplankton (>200 μg/L!), and

Microcystis (80% of total pp biomass!) in MR; variable through time and space

• Microscopical enumeration does not agree with Fluoroprobe data in MR

• SRP- June and August MR>MB>WLE; September MB>WLE>MR

• Chlorophyll a- August> June~=September

• Secchi depth- MR< MB< LE (MR <0.5 m)

• Microcystis found at all sites at all times sampled

Phytoplankton, Sediments, and Nutrients in Maumee System are HIGHLY variable in time and space

June 2003-OhioLink August 2003-OhioLink

Future Directions• Continued Monitoring of Sites in MR- GLISTEN

-Great Lakes Innovative Stewardship through Education Network

• Genetic Analysis of Microcystis

Thanks!• USEPA• Limnology Lab-

OSU• HU- NCWQR• Peter Bichier• Chris Bronish• Other UT staff