To better manage algal blooms, we are working to understand the ecological puzzle of toxic blooms in pristine lakes.
Cyanobacteria blooms in lakes are often associated with nutrient-rich runoff from human activities – like agriculture, lawn maintenance, and industry. Managing pollution inputs is often the prescription for fewer blooms.
But what drives algal blooms in clear water lakes in pristine settings? In northeastern North America, there has been a rise in cyanobacteria blooms in low-nutrient lakes.
Gloeotrichia lives suspended in lakes during the summer, sinks to the lakebed in a state of dormancy over the winter, then rises back up into the water column when the water warms in the spring.
With collaborators, Kathleen Weathers studied Gloeotrichia abundance on Lake Sunapee, New Hampshire. Their findings suggest that lakebed substrates and the size of the seedbank strongly influence Gloeotrichia success
Climate change is making northeastern summers hotter and longer. Because of this, algae have more time to thrive on lake surfaces. Gloeo blooms are fed by phosphorus that is stored in lakebed sediments, which becomes suspended and rises to the surface with seasonal lake mixing.Kathleen Weathers
Climate change is making northeastern summers hotter and longer. Because of this, algae have more time to thrive on lake surfaces. Gloeo blooms are fed by phosphorus that is stored in lakebed sediments, which becomes suspended and rises to the surface with seasonal lake mixing.