Modeling the effect of invasive quagga mussels on the spring phytoplankton bloom in Lake Michigan

Rowe, Mark D.; Anderson, Eric J.; Wang, Jia; Vanderploeg, Henry A.

doi:10.1016/j.jglr.2014.12.018

Cited by 48 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Lakes research and operational applications (Beletsky et al 2003;Wang et al 2010;Anderson and Schwab 2013;Rowe et al 2015; and many others). Inclusion of LS87 in FVCOM was tied to the fact that the algorithm was historically part of real-time nowcasts and forecasts of NOAA's GLOFS, which is based on the Princeton Ocean Model, and that GLOFS is transitioning its 5 physical model to FVCOM.…”

Section: Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (Glerl) and Subsequementioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating and improving modeled turbulent heat fluxes across the North American Great Lakes

Charusombat¹,

Fujisaki‐Manome²,

Gronewold³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Section: Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (Glerl) and Subsequementioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluating and improving modeled turbulent heat fluxes across the North American Great Lakes

Charusombat¹,

Fujisaki‐Manome²,

Gronewold³

et al. 2018

Preprint

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“…However, the model peak in GPP associated with the spring/summer phytoplankton bloom tends to occur 1–2 months earlier than the observed peak in both comparisons. This is consistent with an earlier onset of stratification due to a warm bias in the model NARR forcing [ Pilcher et al ., ; Rowe et al ., ]. This difference is most pronounced in May of the postquagga timeframe (Figure b), when simulated and observed GPP is 218 and 851 mgC/m 2 /day, respectively.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 93%

“…Productivity is then eventually limited by depleted epilimnetic nutrient concentrations and zooplankton grazing, as in the prequagga model [ Pilcher et al ., ]. This seasonal dependence of quagga mussel grazing is consistent with studies citing quagga mussels as the primary mechanism for the observed Lake Michigan productivity changes [ Fahnenstiel et al ., ; Kerfoot et al ., ; Vanderploeg et al ., ; Rowe et al ., ]. Nearshore regions (<20 m) are an exception to this seasonal dependency, since maximum depths are shallower than the surface mixed layer, resulting in year‐round grazing by mussels.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our results suggest that both quagga mussels and changing nutrient concentrations are necessary to reproduce observed declines in Lake Michigan productivity from the mid‐1980s to 2010. This result agrees with a recent modeling study which incorporated quagga mussel grazing to produce a decline in spring chlorophyll but was unable to reproduce observed reductions summer chlorophyll without nutrient reductions [ Rowe et al ., ]. Satellite measurements also suggest that quagga grazing is the dominant control on spring productivity, but phosphorus loading and climate variability are dominant controls on summer productivity in Lake Michigan [ Warner and Lesht , ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Modeled sensitivity of Lake Michigan productivity and zooplankton to changing nutrient concentrations and quagga mussels

et al. 2017

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The recent decline in Lake Michigan productivity is often attributed to filter feeding by invasive quagga mussels, but some studies also implicate reductions in lakewide nutrient concentrations. We use a 3‐D coupled hydrodynamic‐biogeochemical model to evaluate the effect of changing nutrient concentrations and quagga mussel filtering on phytoplankton production and phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass. Sensitivity experiments are used to assess the net effect of each change separately and in unison. Quagga mussels are found to have the greatest impact during periods of isothermal mixing, while nutrients have the greatest impact during thermal stratification. Quagga mussels also act to enhance spatial heterogeneity, particularly between nearshore‐offshore regions. This effect produces a reversal in the gradient of nearshore‐offshore productivity: from relatively greater nearshore productivity in the prequagga lake to relatively lesser nearshore productivity after quaggas. The combined impact of both processes drives substantial reductions in phytoplankton and zooplankton biomass, as well as significant modifications to the seasonality of surface water pCO2, particularly in nearshore regions where mussel grazing continues year‐round. These results support growing concern that considerable losses of phytoplankton and zooplankton will yield concurrent losses at higher trophic levels. Comparisons to observed productivity suggest that both quagga mussel filtration and lower lakewide total phosphorus are necessary to accurately simulate recent changes in primary productivity in Lake Michigan.

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“…To illustrate how vertical mixing, stratification, and mussel grazing influence the dynamics of food availability to mussels at littoral vs. profundal habitats in 2015 and to estimate the relative food availability throughout the water column in 2016, we ran simulations using a 1‐dimensional (vertical column) version of the biophysical model described by Rowe et al (). Rowe et al ( a ) showed that 1‐dimensional biophysical model simulations can reproduce seasonal patterns of phytoplankton abundance observed in the Great Lakes, including the spring bloom during the late isothermal and early stratification periods, the deep chlorophyll maximum during stratification, and secondary maxima in surface and bottom chlorophyll associated with fall turnover. The biophysical model represented a simplified, phosphorus (P)‐limited lower food web, consisting of five functional groups: phytoplankton, zooplankton, dissolved P, detritus, and mussel biomass.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Food depletion regulates the demography of invasive dreissenid mussels in a stratified lake

Karatayev

Burlakova

et al. 2018

Limnology & Oceanography

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Lake stratification produces sharp gradients in temperature and pelagic resources which have cascading effects on the traits of aquatic populations, including invasive species and their ecosystem impacts. We study the consequences of such common environmental gradients on the demography of quagga mussels, one of the world's most aggressive invasive species. Coupling a series of in situ experiments with a biophysical model of the pelagic community, we quantify mussel growth and recruitment in littoral vs. profundal benthic habitats of eastern Lake Erie. We found that both severe food depletion and cold temperatures in the hypolimnion during summer stratification cause mussels to grow twice as slowly and currently inhibit recruitment in profundal compared to littoral habitats. Together with the high biomass and large mean mussel size found in long-term monitoring surveys in the profundal habitats, our results imply that mussels successfully colonizing profundal habitats have relatively long lifespans with low growth rates, and therefore lower productivity, compared to mussels in shallow areas. Consequently, the bulk of dreissenid biomass in Lake Erie and other Great Lakes found in the vast but resource-poor profundal habitats may have very limited impacts on epilimnetic communities compared to mussels in littoral areas. By contrast, mussels in profundal habitats strongly reduce food availability to hypolimnetic communities throughout the year. Thus, our results explain how the ecosystem impacts of sessile freshwater invaders are likely to vary among habitats and lakes depending on the relative size of profundal populations and the extent of stratification.The physiological activities of individuals both determine and reflect how species interact with and impact their ecosystem. For example, high rates of reproduction, growth, and mortality within a species correspond to a strong per capita energetic role in the ecosystem. Differences in environmental conditions or community composition across habitats can therefore produce variation in both the demographic rates of a species and its ecological role (J onasson 2004;Benton et al. 2006). This variation can be especially pronounced in widespread species with strong capacity for phenotypic plasticity, such as invasive species (Davidson et al. 2011). Consequently, ignoring demographic variation among habitats by focusing detailed population studies on specific habitats can produce a strong, unrecognized bias in the estimated ecological role of a species. The importance of this bias is especially acute for invaders rapidly expanding their distribution range, as the impacts of such species in novel ecosystems can be simultaneously strong and poorly resolved.Thermal stratification is one particularly common source of habitat heterogeneity in aquatic ecosystems. In lakes with strong stratification during productive summer seasons, species are distributed along environmental gradients from the warm, well-mixed littoral zone, where the surface mixedlayer intersects th...

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Modeling the effect of invasive quagga mussels on the spring phytoplankton bloom in Lake Michigan

Cited by 48 publications

References 53 publications

Evaluating and improving modeled turbulent heat fluxes across the North American Great Lakes

Evaluating and improving modeled turbulent heat fluxes across the North American Great Lakes

Modeled sensitivity of Lake Michigan productivity and zooplankton to changing nutrient concentrations and quagga mussels

Food depletion regulates the demography of invasive dreissenid mussels in a stratified lake

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