Intensive agricultural lands feed into Canada’s Great Lakes. The primary type of nitrogen used in agriculture has changed over time, shifting from organic to inorganic forms, such as urea. This change has corresponded with an increase in the frequency, magnitude, and duration of phytoplankton blooms, including cyanobacteria that are known to produce toxins harmful to …
Cyanobacteria, algae that form on the surface of nutrient-rich waters, can produce an array of toxins. Accurately measuring these toxins in waterbodies is crucial because they can pose risks to human health and other biological communities. Unfortunately, monitoring and research of these toxins has focused almost exclusively on one particular compound—microcystins. Cyanobacteria, however, can also …
A primary goal of water quality managers is to intercept or mitigate nutrients or pathogens at their source to ensure effective wastewater treatment. Source water treatment includes building onsite treatment systems and implementing agricultural best practice for crops. To ensure mitigation is working, managers often monitor nutrients and pathogens in water. These contaminants, however, can …
Harmful algal blooms are a major concern in large waterbodies and have historically been linked with high phosphorus inputs. In Lake Erie, while extensive watershed management plans have successfully helped to reduce phosphorus loads received by the lake, HAB frequency has recently increased. Interacting biological, chemical and hydrological stressors, including flooding, water turbidity and temperature …
Photo credit: Ed Verhamme During early summer and fall of 2019, RAEON deployed three real-time buoys equipped to measure weather and water-quality parameters, including dissolved oxygen, in Lake Erie near Pelee Island. These buoys will collect data that will predict the location and movement of oxygen-depleted, or hypoxic, water in Lake Erie, a source of …
