What have diatoms revealed about the ecological history of Lake Superior?

Authors

  • Euan D. Reavie Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1900 East Camp Street, Ely, MN 55731, USA
  • Lisa E. Allinger Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth, 1900 East Camp Street, Ely, MN 55731, USA

Keywords:

paleolimnology, algae, phytoplankton, pelagic, environmental condition

Abstract

Prior to 1970, little was known of Lake Superior's primary producers. Since then phytoplankton have been studied to track anthropogenic influences that have clearly impacted the other Great Lakes. Most of this work has focused on assessments of diatom assemblages because of their well-known relationships to environmental conditions and because they leave diagnostic fossils in sedimentary records. Some problems with these assessments have included temporally sporadic collections and poor diatom preservation in areas with low sediment accumulation rates, but diatom indicators have nevertheless revealed a long-term record of human influences on Lake Superior's pelagic condition. Trends in diatom assemblages indicate nutrient enrichment, especially during the 20th century, but these impacts appear to be less significant than those observed in the lower lakes. Shifts in the phytoplanktonic species assemblages in recent decades suggest that nutrient reductions have resulted in water quality and biological improvements. However, as has been observed in the adjacent Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, algal abundance has dropped to very low levels, possibly in response to climate influences. It is clear that ongoing monitoring and new paleoecological investigations of diatoms in Lake Superior are needed to provide the necessary detail to explain long-term trends and put recent, rapid changes in a context of natural variability for the lake.

References

Austin, J. A. and Colman, S. M. 2007. Lake Superior summer water temperatures are increasing more rapidly than regional air temperatures: a positive ice-albedo feedback. Geophys. Res. Lett., 34: 1–5.

Barbiero, R. P. and Tuchman, M. L. 2002. Results from GLNPO's biological open water surveillance program of the Laurentian Great Lakes 1999. EPA-905-R-02-001. Report to US EPA Great Lakes National Program Office, Chicago, Illinois

Barbiero, R. P. and Tuchman, M. L. 2004. The deep chlorophyll maximum in Lake Superior. J. Great Lakes Res., 30(Supp.1): 256–268.

Barbiero, R. P., Schacht, L. L., Little, R. E. and Tuchman, M. L. 2005. “Crustacean zooplankton communities in Lake Michigan”. In State of Lake Michigan: ecology, health and management, Edited by: Edsall, T. and Munuwar, M. 237–267. Burlington, ON: Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society. Ecovision World Monograph Series

Baylis, J. R. and Gerstein, H. H. 1929. Micro-organisms in the Lake Michigan water at Chicago. Municipal News and Water Works, 76: 291–296.

Beeton, A. M. 1965. Eutrophication of the St. Lawrence Great Lakes. Limnol. Oceanogr., 10(2): 240–254.

Birks, H. J.B. 1994. The importance of pollen and diatom taxonomic precision in quantitative palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. Rev. Palaeobot. Palynol., 83: 107–117.

Fahnenstiel, L. E. and Glime, J. M. 1983. Subsurface chlorophyll maximum in Lake Superior. Int. Revue ged. Hydrobiol., 68(5): 605–616.

Fahnenstiel, G. L., Schelske, C. L. and McCormick, M. J. 1990. Phytoplankton photosynthesis and biomass in Lake Superior: effects of nutrients and enrichment. Int. Ver. Limnol. Verh., 24(1): 371–377.

Feldt, L. E., Stoermer, E. F. and Schelske, C. L. 1973. “Occurrence of morphological abnormal Synedra populations in Lake Superior phytoplankton”. In Proc. 16th Great Lakes Res, Ann Arbor, Michigan: Int. Ass. Great Lakes Res.. . p. 34–39

Great Lakes National Program Office. 2010. “Sampling and Analytical Procedures for GLNPO's Open Lake Water Quality Survey of the Great Lakes”. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. document EPA 905-R-05-001. http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/monitoring/sop/

Holland, R. E. 1965. “The distribution and abundance of planktonic diatoms in Lake Superior”. University of Michigan, Institute of Science and Technology, Great Lakes Research Division. Ann Arbor. Pub. 13

Magnuson, J. J., Webster, K. E., Assel, R. A., Bowser, C. J., Dillon, P. J., Eaton, J. G., Evans, H. E., Fee, E. J., Hall, R. I., Mortsch, L. R., Schindler, D. W. and Quinn, F. H. 1997. Potential effects of climate changes on aquatic systems: Laurentian Great Lakes and Precambrian shield region. Hydrol. Processes, 11: 825–871.

Maher, L. J. Jr. 1977. Palynological studies in the western arm of Lake Superior. Quat. Res., 7: 14–44.

Munawar, M. 1978. Preface. J. Great Lakes Res., 4(3–4): 247–248.

Munawar, M. and Munawar, I. F. 1978. Phytoplankton of Lake Superior 1973. J. Great Lakes Res., 4(3–4): 415–442.

Munawar, M. and Munawar, I. F. 2000. “Phytoplankton dynamics in the Northern American Great Lakes. Volume 2: Lakes Superior and Michigan, North Channel, Georgian Bay and Lake Huron”. Leiden, Netherlands: Backhuys Publishers.

Munawar, M., Munawar, I. F., Culp, L. R. and Dupuis, G. 1978. Relative importance of nannoplankton in Lake Superior phytoplankton biomass and community metabolism. J. Great Lakes Res., 4(3–4): 462–480.

Munawar, M., Munawar, I. F., Fitzpatrick, M., Lorimer, J. and Kling, H. 2010. A comprehensive assessment of the microbial food web of pristine Lake Superior. Presented at Ecology of Lake Superior: Integrated Approaches & Challenges in the 21st Century, 2010 May 3-5. Duluth, Minnesota

Osantowski, E. S., Warren, G. and Horvatin, P. J. 2010. Long-term water quality trends in the open waters of Lake Superior. Presented at Ecology of Lake Superior: Integrated Approaches & Challenges in the 21st Century, 2010 May 3-5. Duluth, Minnesota

Pienitz, R., Lotter, A., Newman, L. and Kiefer, T. 2009. Advances in Paleolimnology (Special Section) Vol. 17, 89–136. PAGES News

Reavie, E. D., Robbins, J. A., Stoermer, E. F., Douglas, M. S.V., Emmert, G. E., Morehead, N. R. and Mudroch, A. 2005. Paleolimnology of a fluvial lake downstream of Lake Superior and the industrialized region of Sault Saint Marie. Can. J. Fish. Aquat. Sci., 62(11): 2586–2608.

Reavie, E. D., Axler, R. P., Sgro, G. V., Danz, N. P., Kingston, J. C., Kireta, A. R., Brown, T. N., Hollenhorst, T. P. and Ferguson, M. J. 2006. Diatom-based weighted-averaging transfer functions for Great Lakes coastal water quality: relationships to watershed characteristics. J. Great Lakes Res., 32(2): 321–347.

Schelske, C. L. 1975. “Silica and nitrate depletion as related to rate of eutrophication in Lakes Michigan, Huron and Superior”. In Coupling of Land and Water Systems. Ecological Studies, Vol. 10, Edited by: Hasler, A. D. 277–298. New York: Springer-Verlag New York Inc..

Schelske, C. L. 1999. “Diatoms as mediators of biogeochemical silica depletion in the Laurentian Great Lakes”. In Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth Sciences, Edited by: Stoermer, E. F. and Smol, J. P. 73–84. Cambridge, United Kingdom: The Cambridge University Press.

Schelske, C. L. and Callender, E. 1970. “Survey of phytoplankton productivity and nutrients in Lake Michigan and Lake Superior”. In Int. Ass. Great Lakes Res., 93–105. Ann, Arbor, Michigan: Proc. 13th Conf. Great Lakes Res.

Schelske, C. L. and Roth, J. C. 1973. Limnological Survey of Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron and Erie. Publication No. 17. University of Michigan, Institute of Science and Technology, Great Lakes Research Division, Ann Arbor, Michigan

Schelske, C. L., Feldt, L. E., Santiage, M. A. and Stoermer, E. F. 1972. “Nutrient enrichment and its effect on phytoplankton production and species composition in Lake Superior”. In Proc. 15th Conf. Great Lakes Res., 149–165. Ann, Arbor, Michigan: Int. Ass. Great Lakes Res..

Smol, J. P. and Stoermer, E. F. 2010. The Diatoms: Applications for the Environmental and Earth Sciences, 2nd Edition., Cambridge, , UK: Cambridge University Press.

Stoermer, E. F. 1993. Evaluating diatom succession: some peculiarities of the Great Lakes case. J. Paleolimnol., 8(1): 71–83.

Stoermer, E. F. 2001. Diatom taxonomy for paleolimnologists. J. Paleolimnol., 25(3): 393–398.

Stoermer, E. F. and Yang, J. J. 1968. “Plankton diatom assemblages in Lake Michigan”. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University of Michigan, Institute of Science and Technology, Great Lakes Research Division. Spec. Rep. No. 47

Stoermer, E. F., Wolin, J. A., Schelske, C. L. and Conley, D. J. 1985a. An assessment of ecological changes during the recent history of Lake Ontario based on siliceous algal microfossils preserved in the sediments. J. Phycol., 21(2): 257–276.

Stoermer, E. F., Kociolek, J. P., Schelske, C. L. and Conley, D. J. 1985b. Siliceous microfossil succession in the recent history of Lake Superior. Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phil., 137(2): 106–118.

Swain, F. M. and Prokopovich, N. 1957. Stratigraphy of upper part of sediments of Silver Bay area, Lake Superior. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 68(5): 527–542.

Thayer, V. L., Johnson, T. C. and Schrader, H. J. 1983a. Distribution of diatoms in Lake Superior sediments. J. Great Lakes Res., 9(4): 497–507.

Thayer, V. L., Johnson, T. C. and Schrader, H. J. 1983b. A preliminary study of recent diatom assemblages in Lake Superior sediments. J. Great Lakes Res., 9(4): 508–516.

Vollenweider, R. A., Munawar, M and Stadelmann, P. 1974. A comparative review of phytoplankton and primary production in the Laurentian Great Lakes. J. Fish. Res. Board Can., 31(5): 739–762.

Winder, M., Reuter, J. E. and Schladow, S. G. 2009. Lake warming favours small-sized planktonic diatom species. Proc. Royal Soc. B, 276: 427–435.

Downloads

Published

2011-10-01

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 4 (2011): Ecology of Lake Superior

Section

Research article

License

Manuscripts must be original. They must not be published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere, in whole or in part. It is required that the lead author of accepted papers complete and sign the MSU Press AEHM Author Publishing Agreement and provide it to the publisher upon acceptance.