FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 1, 2007

Contacts

An Invading Phytoplankter in Lake Erie That Likes it Hot

Ann Arbor, MI — Cylindrospermopsis, a potentially-toxic, filamentous phytoplankton genus native to southeast-Asia and Africa, has been documented in Lake Erie for the first time.

Studying the dynamics of phytoplankton (the microscopic plants that form the base of the food web) in Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie offshore sites in 2005, doctoral researcher Joe Conroy and a team of other Ohio State University scientists found Cylindrospermopsis in a community composed largely of cyanobacteria.

"Finding Cylindrospermopsis in Lake Erie was surprising since it is most often found in tropical locations," Mr. Conroy said. "We found that it was particularly abundant in Sandusky Bay because of the high temperatures, low light, and abundant nutrients found there."

Sandusky Bay is rich in other cyanobacterial groups in addition to Cylindrospermopsis throughout the spring and summer and could be a potential source of harmful algal blooms found in Lake Erie late in the summer. Mr. Conroy and Dr. David Culver are conducting further research on this "Algal Loading Hypothesis" with funding provided by the Ohio Lake Erie Protection Fund and the Ohio Sea Grant College Program.

Original Publication Information

Results of this study, "Cylindrospermopsis in Lake Erie: Testing its Association with Other Cyanobacterial Genera and Major Limnological Parameters," are reported by Joseph D. Conroy, Erin L. Quinlan, Douglas D. Kane and David A. Culver in the latest issue (Volume 33, No. 3, pp. 519-535) of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by the International Association for Great Lakes Research, 2007.

Contacts

For more information about the study, contact Joe Conroy, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, 1315 Kinnear Road, Columbus, Ohio, conroy.27@osu.edu, (614) 292-5230.

For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; editor@iaglr.org; (608) 692-1076.

Links

Since 1967, IAGLR has served as the focal point for compiling and disseminating multidisciplinary knowledge on North America's Laurentian Great Lakes and other large lakes of the world and their watersheds. In part, IAGLR communicates this knowledge through publication of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, available to members in print and electronic form. A searchable archive of the journal is available online and includes the abstracts of articles from the journal's inception in 1975 through the most recent issue. In addition, complete articles are available to members who have signed up for an electronic subscription.