Cyanobacteria in the sixth Great Lake: geospatial pigment mapping and phytoplankton community composition in Mississquoi Bay, Lake Champlain

Heterogeneous spatial and temporal cyanobacterial distributions in Missisquoi Bay, Lake Champlain: An analysis of a 9 year data set

“…Similar successional changes have been reported for Missisquoi Bay and in Lake Champlain generally by Levine et al (2012), McQuaid et al (2011), and Mihuc et al (2005, 2008. The large temporal and spatial variability in cyanobacterial distributions in Missisquoi Bay has also been illustrated by the analysis of satellite images from 2004 (Wheeler et al, 2012) and by cruise data from 2006 (Mihuc et al, 2008).…”

“…Because there was no adjustment for multiple statistical significance testing, some correlations may be significant by chance alone. Mihuc et al (2008) considered that high cyanobacterial abundance would only occur once a temperature threshold of 25.5°C was exceeded in late July, or of 21.5°C in late August. Summer water temperatures N 25°C may support dominance by Microcystis aeruginosa as these have higher optimal growth temperatures compared to many other cyanobacteria, including species of Dolichospermum and Aphanizomenon (Carey et al, 2012).…”

“…Mihuc et al (2008) mapped cyanobacterial distributions across Missisquoi Bay during three cruises conducted during the summer of 2006 which illustrated a complex spatial distribution of these blooms, and Wheeler et al (2012) also found marked spatial and temporal differences in cyanobacterial distribution across the entire bay in 2004 using satellite data. The occurrence of microcystin producing cyanobacteria was studied using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (q-PCR) methods in the northern part of the bay by Fortin et al (2010) and Ngwa et al (2014a, b, c), whereas McQuaid et al (2011) and Zamyadi et al (2012) have looked at how blooms may impact on a nearby water treatment plant.…”