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Phytoplankton and the Lakes Around Us

Phytoplankton and the Lakes Around Us. Stephanie Coglitore Alexis Krukovsky Jamie Nelson. Purpose. To observe and quantify the relationships between phytoplankton concentration, diversity and chlorophyll concentration.

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Phytoplankton and the Lakes Around Us

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  1. Phytoplankton and the Lakes Around Us Stephanie Coglitore Alexis Krukovsky Jamie Nelson

  2. Purpose • To observe and quantify the relationships between phytoplankton concentration, diversity and chlorophyll concentration. • Hypothesize how the relationship between these parameters contributes to the overall trophic state of the lakes

  3. Data Collection • Kimmerer bottles • Samples taken from different depths of epi, hypo and metalimnion • preserved in ethyl alcohol

  4. Why are Phytoplankton and Chlorophyll Important? • The density and specific species of phytoplanton present will directly affect chlorophyll concentration • Phytoplankton biomass is directly correlated with productivity and photosynthetic ability within a system • Means of estimating the energy pathways in an aquatic system

  5. Why Chlorophyll a? • Chlorophyll a is the best measurement since all phytoplankton contain chlorophyll a but differ in composition of other pigments

  6. Analysis of Phytoplankton • Resuspend sample by mixing and filter 250ml onto filter paper • Remove filter, fold in half and put in aluminum foil • Place foil in bottle filled with desiccant and place bottle in freezer for storage • Rinse filter head between samples

  7. Phytoplankton cont. • Samples should be resuspended in ethyl alcohol and allowed to concentrate over several days • Refilter the samples • Identification by genus and division under dissecting microscope

  8. Analysis of Chlorophyll a • Samples treated with ethanol to separate out chlorophyll • Separated samples were filtered and measured using a flourometer • Conversion: Chlorophyll a conc..= (F0*VE)/VS

  9. Fluorometer Method • Fluorometer was used to measure chlorophyll a concentration in the samples from different depths • Determination of chlorophyll is more efficient, if not quite as accurate as microscope way • Add ethanol to filtered sample to extract the photosynthetic pigments • Prepare a blank filter-acts as a control

  10. Fluorometer Method • Invert each tube to mix thoroughly • Leave sample in meter for no longer than 10 secondscould cause more production • Fluorometer was used to measure chlorophyll a concentration • Chlorophyll a can be used as an indicator of primary production

  11. Counting Phytoplankton • To count cells, both the Palmer-Maloney slides and the sorting trays were used • Counting 100 individuals/10 taxon is enough for statistical accuracy • Subsample of community, can extrapolate data and apply it to the whole lake • Phytoplankton can be used as an indicator of primary production

  12. Lakes By Division and Total

  13. What Dominated in Each Lake?

  14. Oneida Lake

  15. Oneida Lake Analysis • What does it all mean? • Lots of Chrysophyta Bacillariophyceaediatoms, lots of silica present here • Fairly shallow because they would sink to the bottom, must be constantly mixing • Nitrogen is not an issue here

  16. Rich Lake

  17. Rich Lake Analysis • Dominated by Chlorophyta, indicating a high level of phosphorous • Cyanophyta also represented probably due to lack of nitrogen • Must mix regularly to have a sizable population of diatoms

  18. Catlin Lake

  19. Catlin Lake Analysis • Green and golden algae were the only two present • Even split, so it has a good amount of phosphorous and silica • Not enough silica to support Chrysophyta (Bacillariophyceae), perhaps due to lack of it in sediments

  20. Arbutus Lake

  21. Arbutus Lake Analysis • Little bit of everything, perhaps because it has a lot of drainage • No one division dominates, Greens at 26%, Diatoms at 21%, and Blue-greens at 16% make up the top three divisions • Must have a good amount of diatoms and phosphorous • Probably limited in nitrogen considering the blue-green algae

  22. Onondaga Lake

  23. Onondaga Lake Analysis • Such a surprise, dominated by Chlorophyta • 64% of algae represented green algae, with 16 out of 25 genera • Lots of phosphorous input from sewage • Lack of nitrogen evident because of the presence of Cyanophyta, which makes up 24% of the genera present

  24. Green Lakes

  25. Green Lakes Analysis • Chlorophyta was the only division present • Phosphorous must be abundant, and that’s about the only thing in Green Lakes

  26. Catlin Lake Chlorophyll Data

  27. Rich Lake

  28. Arbutus Lake

  29. Oneida Lake

  30. Onondaga Lake

  31. Green Lake

  32. Sources of Error??? • Chlorophyll analysis only accounts for Chlorophyll a • Flourometer does not separate phaeophytin from chlorophyll sample • Many phytoplankton are too small and may pass through nets • Not all of the phytoplankton in the samples were counted only the first 100 specimens

  33. Sources of Error continued • Our inexperience at counting and identifying phytoplankton • Sample sizes for phytoplankton were often very small- Green Lakes had 1 algae counted

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