Factors influencing the current phytoplankton community in western Lake Erie

Session: Harmful Algal Blooms: From Ecosystem Drivers to Ecosystem Impacts (1)

Jessica Owen, University of Windsor, GLIER, [email protected]
Subba Rao Chaganti, University of Windsor, [email protected]
Katie Stammler, Essex Region Conservation Authority, [email protected]
Gordon Douglas Haffner, Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research, Univ. of Windsor, [email protected]

Abstract

Western Lake Erie has historically seen eutrophic conditions that have led to issues with harmful algal blooms (HABs). With changing environmental conditions, it is important to explore the relative importance of environmental factors that regulate phytoplankton community composition and relative abundance and this relates to the development of HABs. Microscopic and genomic techniques were used in tandem to determine phytoplankton community structure and the environmental factors regulating shifts in community composition in 2016 and 2017 sample years. It has been concluded that both techniques showed similar differences in composition spatially and temporally, however temporal differences were more distinct. This study further demonstrated that while chemical environmental factors were important with respect to phytoplankton composition and abundance, physical factors played an important role in late summer. This study clearly demonstrates that different sample years can have similar environmental factors, but result in major differences in phytoplankton composition and relative abundance, suggesting the predicting of HABs responses to remedial actions such a P loading can only be done with great trepidation.

Twitter handle of presenter
@ErieHABgirl