1. LAKE ERIE SOURCE TRACKING OF HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS Douglas D. Kane 1, dkane@defiance.edu,dkane@defiance.edu Joseph D. Conroy 2,3, conroy.27@osu.edu,conroy.27@osu.edu Justin D. Chaffin 4, justin.chaffin@rockets.utoledo.edu,justin.chaffin@rockets.utoledo.edu Thomas B. Bridgeman 4, tbridge@UTNet.UToledo.Edutbridge@UTNet.UToledo.Edu 1 Natural Science and Mathematics Division, Defiance College, Defiance, OH 43512. 2 Inland Fisheries Research Unit, Division of Wildlife, Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Hebron, OH 43025. 3 Aquatic Ecology Laboratory, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and Organismal Biology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43212 4 Department of Environmental Sciences and Lake Erie Center, University of Toledo, Oregon, OH 43616.

2. Outline Problem Approach Methods Results Conclusions

3. Problem Microcystis blooms have become more frequent and larger in Lake Erie in the last 10-15 years August 2003-OhioLink

4. Approach Use contemporaneous sampling (within 1 week) in the Maumee River, Maumee Bay, and Lake Erie to determine location/quantity of Microcystis T1 T1= The Bend T2 T2 = Rt. 66 Bridge T3 T3 = Independence Dam T4 T4 = Mary Jane Thurston State Park T5 T5= Farnsworth Metropark

5. LEAST Sampling Sites T1 T1= The Bend T2 T2 = Rt. 66 Bridge T3 T3 = Indendence Dam T4 T4 = Mary Jane Thurston State Park T5 T5= Farnsworth Metropark T1T2 T3 T4 T5

6. Methods Boats/ Wading YSI Multiprobe and PAR meter Fluoroprobe Water Samples – Nutrients – Chlorophyll a – Phytoplankton – Microcystis

7. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in the Maumee River

8. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Soluble Reactive Phosphorus Site- p<0.001 Month- p<0.001 Site X Month- p<0.001

9. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Chlorophyll a Site- p<0.001 Month- p<0.001 Site X Month- p<0.001

10. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in % Cyanobacteria (Fluoroprobe) Site- p<0.001 Month- p<0.001 Site X Month- p<0.001

11. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in % Microcystis (microscopic)

12. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in the Maumee System

13. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Soluble Reactive Phosphorus

14. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Chlorophyll a

15. Temporal/ Spatial Trends in Secchi Depth

16. Secchi Transparency vs. Chlorophyll a

17. 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

18. Phytoplankton, Sediments, and Nutrients in Maumee System are HIGHLY variable in time and space June 2003-OhioLink August 2003-OhioLink

19. Future Directions Continued Monitoring of Sites in MR- GLISTEN -Great Lakes Innovative Stewardship through Education Network Genetic Analysis of Microcystis

20. Thanks! USEPA Limnology Lab- OSU HU- NCWQR Peter Bichier Chris Bronish Other UT staff