Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014
Hamilton Harbour is an Area of Concern in western Lake Ontario, long stressed by cultural eutrophication, urbanization and invasive species. Despite high nutrient levels leading to hypolimnetic hypoxia and contaminated sediment, it is a highly productive environment. To better understand zooplankton...
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ftdatacite:10.6084/m9.figshare.5400538 2023-05-15T18:49:45+02:00 Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 K. L. Bowen W. J. S. Currie 2017 https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5400538 https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Elevated_zooplankton_production_in_a_eutrophic_Lake_Ontario_embayment_Hamilton_Harbour_2002_2014/5400538 unknown Taylor & Francis https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2017.1294425 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 CC-BY Genetics FOS Biological sciences 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences Text article-journal Journal contribution ScholarlyArticle 2017 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5400538 https://doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2017.1294425 2021-11-05T12:55:41Z Hamilton Harbour is an Area of Concern in western Lake Ontario, long stressed by cultural eutrophication, urbanization and invasive species. Despite high nutrient levels leading to hypolimnetic hypoxia and contaminated sediment, it is a highly productive environment. To better understand zooplankton dynamics in Hamilton Harbour, we conducted biweekly May to October sampling of zooplankton and rotifer composition at open water harbour sites from 2002–2014. May to October zooplankton density, dry biomass and total production averaged 265 ± 16 animals l −1 , 306 ± 19 mg m −3 and 4131 ± 359 mg m −3 , (±SE), respectively. These values are among the highest reported in the Great Lakes, with biomass two to seven times greater than in other eutrophic embayments. Zooplankton populations and taxonomic seasonality have remained relatively stable in Hamilton Harbour since 2002. Biomass is often dominated by smaller taxa such as Bosmina, Eubosmina and juvenile copepods, suggestive of high fish planktivory, but Daphnia retrocurva and D. galeata mendotae are also dominant during the summer, indicating improvements in the zooplankton community since the 1970s when Daphnia and cyclopoids were uncommon. Conversely, rotifers have declined over the last 40 years, though while still numerically dominant, now comprise <4% of total biomass and production compared to 40% in the 1970s. Both adult Dreissenid Mussels and their veliger larvae are less abundant in Hamilton Harbour compared to nearshore Lake Ontario. Zooplankton appear to be effectively utilizing high production rates of edible algae and microorganisms in the harbour. More work is needed to explore trophic interactions in this eutrophic ecosystem and the effects of hypolimnetic hypoxia on the zooplankton community. Text Copepods Rotifer DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) Western Lake ENVELOPE(-128.106,-128.106,52.663,52.663) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
op_collection_id |
ftdatacite |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Genetics FOS Biological sciences 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences |
spellingShingle |
Genetics FOS Biological sciences 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences K. L. Bowen W. J. S. Currie Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 |
topic_facet |
Genetics FOS Biological sciences 59999 Environmental Sciences not elsewhere classified FOS Earth and related environmental sciences Ecology 69999 Biological Sciences not elsewhere classified Inorganic Chemistry FOS Chemical sciences |
description |
Hamilton Harbour is an Area of Concern in western Lake Ontario, long stressed by cultural eutrophication, urbanization and invasive species. Despite high nutrient levels leading to hypolimnetic hypoxia and contaminated sediment, it is a highly productive environment. To better understand zooplankton dynamics in Hamilton Harbour, we conducted biweekly May to October sampling of zooplankton and rotifer composition at open water harbour sites from 2002–2014. May to October zooplankton density, dry biomass and total production averaged 265 ± 16 animals l −1 , 306 ± 19 mg m −3 and 4131 ± 359 mg m −3 , (±SE), respectively. These values are among the highest reported in the Great Lakes, with biomass two to seven times greater than in other eutrophic embayments. Zooplankton populations and taxonomic seasonality have remained relatively stable in Hamilton Harbour since 2002. Biomass is often dominated by smaller taxa such as Bosmina, Eubosmina and juvenile copepods, suggestive of high fish planktivory, but Daphnia retrocurva and D. galeata mendotae are also dominant during the summer, indicating improvements in the zooplankton community since the 1970s when Daphnia and cyclopoids were uncommon. Conversely, rotifers have declined over the last 40 years, though while still numerically dominant, now comprise <4% of total biomass and production compared to 40% in the 1970s. Both adult Dreissenid Mussels and their veliger larvae are less abundant in Hamilton Harbour compared to nearshore Lake Ontario. Zooplankton appear to be effectively utilizing high production rates of edible algae and microorganisms in the harbour. More work is needed to explore trophic interactions in this eutrophic ecosystem and the effects of hypolimnetic hypoxia on the zooplankton community. |
format |
Text |
author |
K. L. Bowen W. J. S. Currie |
author_facet |
K. L. Bowen W. J. S. Currie |
author_sort |
K. L. Bowen |
title |
Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 |
title_short |
Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 |
title_full |
Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 |
title_fullStr |
Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic Lake Ontario embayment: Hamilton Harbour 2002–2014 |
title_sort |
elevated zooplankton production in a eutrophic lake ontario embayment: hamilton harbour 2002–2014 |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5400538 https://tandf.figshare.com/articles/journal_contribution/Elevated_zooplankton_production_in_a_eutrophic_Lake_Ontario_embayment_Hamilton_Harbour_2002_2014/5400538 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-128.106,-128.106,52.663,52.663) |
geographic |
Western Lake |
geographic_facet |
Western Lake |
genre |
Copepods Rotifer |
genre_facet |
Copepods Rotifer |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2017.1294425 |
op_rights |
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.5400538 https://doi.org/10.1080/14634988.2017.1294425 |
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1766243346095800320 |