PRJNA516219
Deciphering the effects of nitrogen, phosphorus, and temperature on cyanobacterial bloom intensification, diversity, and toxicity in western Lake Erie
To gain further insight into the relationships between phytoplankton community dynamics, microcystin production, and environmental drivers, we used next generation amplicon sequencing (NGS) to evaluate changes in western Lake Erie cyanobacterial assemblages in response to natural and experimental gradients in nutrients (N and P) and temperature. Algal communities were profiled using a multi-tiered approach to identify variations in the composition and abundance of the total phytoplankton (cyanobacteria, green and brown algae), cyanobacterial (16S rRNA), and potential microcystin-producing (mcyE) communities during field surveys across cyanobacteria blooms in Maumee Bay and Sandusky Bay in September 2015. Field surveys were complemented with experiments using lake water from a bloom and non bloom site in which N, P and temperature were elevated individually or in combination. The goal of the study was to identify environmental conditions associated with the dominance of specific algal and cyanobacterial communities in western Lake Erie.