Spatial-Dynamic Modeling of Algal Biomass in Lake Erie: Relative Impacts of Dreissenid Mussels and Nutrient Loads
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134, Issue 6
Abstract
Over the past several decades, reductions in phytoplankton stocks and increased water clarity in Lake Erie have resulted from phosphorus load abatement and the introduction of zebra (Dreissena polymorpha) and quagga mussels (D. bugensis). The relative impacts of these developments and their implications for lake management have remained difficult to delineate. To address this issue, we numerically model the complex biophysical interactions occurring in Lake Erie using a two-dimensional hydrodynamic and water quality model that is extended to include dreissenid mussel and zooplankton algorithms. The model reasonably simulates longitudinal trends in water quality as well as the dynamics of central basin hypoxia. Phosphorus is the limiting nutrient through the euphotic zone and its control decreases the algal growth rate and biomass . Filter feeding by dreissenid mussels also decreases algal biomass , simultaneously stimulating increased net algae growth through enhanced algal consumption and subsequent phosphorus recycling. Effective recycling implies that algae stocks are ultimately regulated by external phosphorus loads. Returning phosphorus loads to pre-abatement 1960s levels, in the presence of dreissenid mussels, results in a western basin algae concentration of with a potential for nuisance algae growth.
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Acknowledgments
The first and second writers were at the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, during the development of the dreissenid mussel and zooplankton algorithms. They thank J. D. Conroy for discussions on Lake Erie ecology and T. M. Cole from the USACE for providing the original W2 source code and helping with its application to Lake Erie. This project was primarily funded by the Ohio Sea Grant College Program Grant No. NA86RG0053 (Project No. R/EM-20) to the third author and by the Ohio State University. The writers acknowledge numerous agencies and individuals for supplying input and calibration data, including: J. D. Ackerman (Univ. Guelph, Guelph, Ont., Canada), F. M. Boyce and E. S. Millard (NWRI), P. Richards (Heidelberg College, Tiffin, Ohio), and D. Dolan (Univ. Wisconsin-Green Bay).
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Published In
Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 134 • Issue 6 • June 2008
Pages: 456 - 468
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© 2008 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 4, 2007
Accepted: Dec 10, 2007
Published online: Jun 1, 2008
Published in print: Jun 2008
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