Algae and Ice make a Nice Mix in Winter
Ann Arbor, MI — Associate Professor of Biology Michael Twiss of Clarkson University has been working with worked with colleagues and students from Ohio, Pennsylvania, Ontario, and Tennessee over the past five years to study Lake Erie during mid-winter, a time when the lake is more than 70 percent covered by ice.
Twiss and colleagues documented very high concentrations of algae thriving in the water below the ice and even within the ice itself, despite dark conditions and cold temperatures that were a fraction of a degree above freezing that would be expected to inhibit microbial growth.
These remarkably high concentrations of algae in the surface water under the ice in winter exceed blooms of algae observed in the spring. The growth of algae in winter also removes nutrients from the water so that nutrients are lower by the time spring arrives. Both of these observations have important implications to managing the Lake Erie sport and commercial fishery - multi-million dollar industries in the United States and Canada.
The voyages were made possible through collaborations with the Canadian Coast Guard, which operates a Class 1 icebreaker on the lake in the winter, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has a scientific research vessel that conducts scientific monitoring during ice-free seasons. This research will help guide lake managers in Canada and the United States, as they consider winter conditions in attempting to understand the ecology of Lake Erie, one of five that comprise the North American Great Lakes. This collaborative research will help the State of New York and its neighbors better manage water quality and ecosystem function in Lake Erie.
"Since Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes it is the both the coldest and warmest – therefore, it is an important sentinel for climate change in the region and one we need to continue learning more about" states Twiss.
Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world’s pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.
Original Publication Information
Results of this study, "Diatoms abound in ice-covered Lake Erie: An investigation of offshore winter limnology in Lake Erie over the period 2007 to 2010," are reported by by Michael Twiss, Mike McKay, Rick Bourbonniere, George Bullerjahn, Hunter Carrick, Ralph Smith, Jennifer Winter, Nigel D’souza, Paula Furey, Aubrey Lashaway, Matt Saxton and Steve Wilhelm in Volume 38, No. 1, of the Journal of Great Lakes Research, published by Elsevier, 2012.
Contacts
For more information about the study, contact Michael Twiss, PhD, Associate Professor of Biology, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY 13699; mtwiss@clarkson.edu, (315) 268-1249.
For information about the Journal of Great Lakes Research, contact Marlene Evans, Editor, National Water Research Institute, Environment Canada, 11 Innovation Boulevard, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 3H5, Canada; jglr@ec.gc.ca; (306) 975-5310.
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.