scholarly journals Toxins and Other Bioactive Metabolites in Deep Chlorophyll Layers Containing the Cyanobacteria Planktothrix cf. isothrix in Two Georgian Bay Embayments, Lake Huron

Toxins ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 445
Author(s):  
Arthur Zastepa ◽  
Todd R. Miller ◽  
L. Cynthia Watson ◽  
Hedy Kling ◽  
Susan B. Watson
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Chemical Defence ◽  
Euphotic Zone ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Metabolic Inhibitors ◽  
Bioactive Metabolites ◽  
Total Biomass ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Georgian Bay ◽  
And Function

The understanding of deep chlorophyll layers (DCLs) in the Great Lakes—largely reported as a mix of picoplankton and mixotrophic nanoflagellates—is predominantly based on studies of deep (>30 m), offshore locations. Here, we document and characterize nearshore DCLs from two meso-oligotrophic embayments, Twelve Mile Bay (TMB) and South Bay (SB), along eastern Georgian Bay, Lake Huron (Ontario, Canada) in 2014, 2015, and 2018. Both embayments showed the annual formation of DCLs, present as dense, thin, metalimnetic plates dominated by the large, potentially toxic, and bloom-forming cyanobacteria Planktothrix cf. isothrix. The contribution of P. cf. isothrix to the deep-living total biomass (TB) increased as thermal stratification progressed over the ice-free season, reaching 40% in TMB (0.6 mg/L at 9.5 m) and 65% in South Bay (3.5 mg/L at 7.5 m) in 2015. The euphotic zone in each embayment extended down past the mixed layer, into the nutrient-enriched hypoxic hypolimnia, consistent with other studies of similar systems with DCLs. The co-occurrence of the metal-oxidizing bacteria Leptothrix spp. and bactivorous flagellates within the metalimnetic DCLs suggests that the microbial loop plays an important role in recycling nutrients within these layers, particularly phosphate (PO4) and iron (Fe). Samples taken through the water column in both embayments showed measurable concentrations of the cyanobacterial toxins microcystins (max. 0.4 µg/L) and the other bioactive metabolites anabaenopeptins (max. ~7 µg/L) and cyanopeptolins (max. 1 ng/L), along with the corresponding genes (max. in 2018). These oligopeptides are known to act as metabolic inhibitors (e.g., in chemical defence against grazers, parasites) and allow a competitive advantage. In TMB, the 2018 peaks in these oligopeptides and genes coincided with the P. cf. isothrix DCLs, suggesting this species as the main source. Our data indicate that intersecting physicochemical gradients of light and nutrient-enriched hypoxic hypolimnia are key factors in supporting DCLs in TMB and SB. Microbial activity and allelopathy may also influence DCL community structure and function, and require further investigation, particularly related to the dominance of potentially toxigenic species such as P. cf. isothrix.

The Thermal Regime of South Bay, Manitoulin Island

1967 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. M. McCombie
Keyword(s):  
Thermal Regime ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Yellow Perch ◽  
Lake Trout ◽  
Smallmouth Bass ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Vertical Temperature ◽  
Class Strength ◽  
Influence Of Temperature On ◽  
History Of

The thermal regime of South Bay is described from records collected from 1953 to 1962 with thermometers, thermographs, and bathythermographs, the last being cast at 11 stations along the bay and one in Lake Huron. Warming begins in April and thermal stratification is established in June. Shallow areas warm more rapidly than deep in the spring and cool more quickly in autumn. The boundary between the epilimnion and the thermocline becomes sharper as summer advances but the transition from thermocline to hypolimnion remains gradual. The average seasonal trend of surface temperatures is a sine function with a maximum of 66 F in mid August and a minimum of 34 F in late March, though values outside this range occur frequently. At 180 ft the maximum of 47 F is attained in November. At the lake and outermost bay stations there is a temperature slump in June and July which may be due to an upwelling in the lake. Evidence of an exchange of water between the lake and bay is seen in vertical temperature sections and water movements Variations in epilimnial temperatures are correlated with those of the air temperature, but variations in epilimnial and hypolimnial temperatures appear to be unrelated. Finally, literature describing the influence of temperature on the year class strength of smallmouth bass, the distribution of lake trout, the growth of yellow perch, and the life history of Pontoporeia in South Bay is reviewed.

Growth and buoyancy of Microcystis aeruginosa Kütz. emend. Elenkin in a shallow eutrophic lake

1973 ◽  
Vol 184 (1074) ◽  
pp. 29-50 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Microcystis Aeruginosa ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Control Mechanism ◽  
Euphotic Zone ◽  
Eutrophic Lake ◽  
Growth Surface ◽  
Progressive Deterioration ◽  
Exponential Increase ◽  
Shallow Eutrophic Lake ◽  
Buoyancy Control

The growth of Microcystis aeruginosa in a small, shallow eutrophic lake was studied during three consecutive seasons. The alga was shown to be continuously present in the plankton throughout the period. Exponential increase in the population was confined to a 5 to 8-week period, following the onset of thermal stratification. Populations appeared to originate near the bottom of the euphotic zone. The possession of an effective light-dependent buoyancy control mechanism enabled the alga to maintain station, though progressive deterioration of the photic conditions forced populations to rise and become dissipated within the epilimnion. Buoyancy increased after the cessation of growth; surface blooms often led to the physical removal of a majority of colonies to lee shores. Surviving colonies became generally less buoyant after the lake destratified in autumn.

Hydrogeomorphic modeling of low-marsh habitat in coastal Georgian Bay, Lake Huron

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 207-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Daniel Weller ◽  
Patricia Chow-Fraser
Keyword(s):  
Lake Huron ◽  
Georgian Bay ◽  
Marsh Habitat

Spatial Distribution of Nearshore Fish in the Vicinity of Two Thermal Generating Stations, Nanticoke and Douglas Point, on the Great Lakes

1978 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 885-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. K. Minns ◽  
J. R. M. Kelso ◽  
W. Hyatt
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Temperature Response ◽  
Incident Radiation ◽  
Fish Distribution ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Vertical Variation ◽  
Pelagic Communities ◽  
Key Words Temperature

At Nanticoke, Lake Erie, 1974, mean fish density varied considerably, range 162–14 204/10 000 m3, as estimated by digital acoustic fish enumeration. At Douglas Point, Lake Huron, 1975, mean density varied less, range 108–671/10 000 m3. At both sites fish densities were generally greatest in the shallowest, 3–5 m, depths. At Nanticoke, where the nearshore has low relief, there were no distinguishable communities. At Douglas Point, where depth increases rapidly offshore, there was evidence of benthic and pelagic communities. There was no evidence of altered fish distribution in relation to temperature. At Nanticoke there was no vertical variation in temperature and no vertical response was to be expected. At Douglas Point there was thermal stratification present in the summer and there was no apparent response. The influence of incident radiation was uncertain because of the effects of diurnal migrations. At both locations fish were clustered horizontally to varying degrees in the spring and fall, while in the summer fish were distributed more evenly. Densest clusters were usually in the vicinity of the turbulent discharge at both locations. The lack of temperature response and the similarity of Nanticoke with situations at nearby streams on Lake Erie suggest that the fish are responding to currents and perhaps topography. Key words: temperature, acoustic enumeration, topography, light

Phosphorus Enrichment, Silica Utilization, and Biogeochemical Silica Depletion in the Great Lakes

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 407-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire L. Schelske ◽  
Eugene F. Stoermer ◽  
Gary L. Fahnenstiel ◽  
Mark Haibach
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Great Lakes ◽  
Urban Population ◽  
Thermal Stratification ◽  
Lake Erie ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Lake Huron ◽  
Phosphorus Enrichment

Our hypothesis that silica (Si) depletion in Lake Michigan and the severe Si depletion that characterizes the lower Great Lakes were induced by increased phosphorus (P) inputs was supported by bioassay experiments showing increased Si uptake by diatoms with relatively small P enrichments. We propose that severe Si depletion (Si concentrations being reduced to ≤0.39 mg SiO2∙L−1 prior to thermal stratification) results when P levels are increased to the extent that increased diatom production reduces Si concentrations to limiting levels during the thermally mixed period. Large P enrichments such as those that characterized the eastern and central basis of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario in the early 1970s are necessary to produce severe Si depletion. It is clear that severe Si depletion in the lower lakes was produced by P enrichment because inflowing waters from Lake Huron have smaller P concentrations and larger Si concentrations than the outflowing waters of either Lake Erie or Lake Ontario. Severe Si depletion probably began in the 1940s or 1950s as the result of increased P loads from expanded sewering of an increasing urban population and the introduction of phosphate detergents. The model proposed for biogeochemical Si depletion is consistent with previous findings of high rates of internal recycling because, under steady-state conditions for Si inputs, any increase in diatom production will produce an increase in permanent sedimentation of biogenic Si provided some fraction of the increased biogenic Si production is not recycled or unless there is a compensating increase in dissolution of diatoms.

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