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The seasonality of phytoplankton in the North American Great Lakes, a comparative synthesis

  • Chapter
Seasonality of Freshwater Phytoplankton

Part of the book series: Developments in Hydrobiology ((DIHY,volume 33))

Abstract

The phytoplankton and productivity of the North American Great Lakes has been studied extensively by Fisheries and Oceans Canada during the past 15 years to monitor the impact of nutrient and contaminant loading on the plankton of the ecosystem. Lakewide cruises were conducted at monthly intervals mainly during the spring to fall period. This provided extensive biomass, species, size, productivity and nutrient concentration data for the Great Lakes. These data were collected using the Utermöhl inverted microscope technique together with standardized taxonomic, productivity and data-handling procedures. These standardized methodologies were applied to all the Great Lakes which resulted in a comprehensive phycological and ecological data base for the first time. These data form the basis for the evaluation of the complex phenomenon of seasonality.

The eutrophic/mesotrophic Lower Great Lakes exhibited well-developed seasonal peaks of high biomass, with inshore-offshore differentiation and spring maxima most pronounced in the inshore region. However, the oligotrophic Upper Great Lakes had a low biomass and generally lacked well-developed seasonal patterns. No marked seasonal trends were observed in the ultra-oligotrophic Lake Superior. The seasonality of biomass and various taxonomic groups of phytoplankton showed differentiation between individual lakes and is discussed in detail. The seasonal succession of species provided interesting comparisons between the Lower Great Lakes, which harbour eutrophic and mesotrophic species, and the Upper Great Lakes, which harbour oligotrophic species.

Due to the voluminous nature of our data, a general overview has been given for all the Great Lakes with Lake Ontario treated in detail as a case study. The Lake Ontario case study provides the state-of-the-art status ranging from the lakewide surveys of 1970 to the current research with minute organism such as ultraplankton and picoplankton.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Great Lakes Fisheries Research Branch, Canada Centre For Inland Waters, P.O. Box 5050, Burlington, Ontario, L7R 4A6, Canada

    Mohiuddin Munawar

  2. Plankton Canada, 685 Inverary Road, Burlington, Ontario, L7L 2L8, Canada

    Iftekhar F. Munawar

Authors
  1. Mohiuddin Munawar
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  2. Iftekhar F. Munawar
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M. Munawar J. F. Talling

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© 1986 Dr W. Junk Publishers, Dordrecht

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Munawar, M., Munawar, I.F. (1986). The seasonality of phytoplankton in the North American Great Lakes, a comparative synthesis. In: Munawar, M., Talling, J.F. (eds) Seasonality of Freshwater Phytoplankton. Developments in Hydrobiology, vol 33. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4818-1_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4818-1_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8635-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4818-1

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