Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID OH_2023_Knoll

Evaluating the relationship between variable winter/spring conditions and cyanobacteria dynamics in Ohio reservoirs

Institute: Ohio
Year Established: 2023 Start Date: 2023-09-01 End Date: 2024-08-31
Total Federal Funds: $35,208 Total Non-Federal Funds: $35,403

Principal Investigators: Lesley Knoll

Project Summary: Cyanobacteria associated harmful algal blooms are increasing in intensity and frequency in many Midwest US lakes and reservoirs. We are learning that lakes are more biologically active in winter and spring than previously anticipated, that winter/spring conditions influence lake dynamics in the summer, and that some cyanobacteria can thrive in cold-water conditions. But, there is a scarcity of sampling during these time periods which limits our ability to understand current patterns as well as make predictions under future scenarios. We propose to use lab experiments to examine how temperature, light, and nutrients during the winter and early spring influence 1) pelagic phytoplankton communities, and how these factors plus increased mixing (simulating lack of ice cover) influences 2) cyanobacteria recruitment of resting cells from reservoir sediments. We will collect water and sediments for the lab incubation experiments from two eutrophic reservoirs in Ohio that are dominated by cyanobacteria in the summer. Our results will fill a critical knowledge gap by elucidating if changing winter and early spring conditions may contribute to summer cyanobacteria dominance in Ohio reservoirs, and also inform future field experiments to address these questions at a bigger scale.