The Use of Diatoms as a Proxy for Environmental Variation in Ohio's Inland Lakes
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Date
2024-05
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Globally, lacustrine environments are negatively impacted by anthropogenic nutrient input. In Ohio, many inland lakes have been particularly impacted via agricultural runoff. Determining past water quality and nutrient levels in nutrient-enriched lakes can help inform lake restoration efforts seeking to alleviate the negative effects of nutrient enrichment by providing valuable baseline data. Diatoms, photosynthetic microalgae, can serve as indicators of aquatic ecosystems' health. This project employs diatoms as a proxy for nutrient (e.g., phosphorus) enrichment in seven lakes in the Eastern Corn Belt Plains ecoregion of Ohio, focusing on diatom relative abundances (RAs) to understand which taxa are associated with nutrient-enriched waters. Using this proxy to better understand changes in nutrient concentration in Ohio’s lakes can help us understand how and why aquatic systems change throughout time because, while understanding modern water quality is important, establishing water quality baselines is necessary for effective restoration. This data will serve as the framework for the creation of a statistical model that will be employed to reconstruct total phosphorus concentrations in one of Ohio’s oldest reservoirs, Buckeye Lake. The results of this study will be shared with environmental agencies and local community organizations to help inform future restoration projects.
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Keywords
Diatoms, Eutrophication