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The nearshore shunt and the decline of the phytoplankton spring bloom in the Laurentian Great Lakes: insights from a three-dimensional lake model

  • EUROPEAN LARGE LAKES III
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Abstract

Dreissenid mussels have been hypothesized to cause selective decreases of phytoplankton in nearshore areas (nearshore shunt hypothesis) as well as the near-complete loss of the offshore phytoplankton spring bloom in some Laurentian Great Lakes. To evaluate whether mussels can reasonably be expected to mediate such changes, we extended the three-dimensional hydrodynamic-ecological model (ELCOM-CAEDYM) to include mussels as a state variable and applied it to Lake Erie (USA-Canada). Mussel-mediated decreases in mean phytoplankton biomass were highly sensitive to the assigned mussel population size in each basin. In the relatively deep east basin, mussels were predicted to decrease phytoplankton in both nearshore and offshore zones, even during periods of thermal stratification but especially during the spring phytoplankton maximum. Spatially, impacts were associated with mussel distributions but could be strong even in areas without high mussel biomass, consistent with advection from areas of higher mussel biomass. The results supported the nearshore shunt hypothesis that mussel impacts on phytoplankton should be greater in nearshore than offshore waters and also supported suggestions about the emerging importance of deep water offshore mussels. The results of this study provide an important insight into ecological role of mussels in lowering plankton productivity in some world’s largest lakes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Lake Research, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Brueckstrasse 3a, 39114, Magdeburg, Germany

    Serghei A. Bocaniov

  2. Department of Biology, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Serghei A. Bocaniov, Ralph E. H. Smith & Luis F. Leon

  3. Bureau of Meteorology Research Centre, PO Box 1289K, Melbourne, VIC, 3001, Australia

    Claire M. Spillman

  4. Centre for Water Research, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Matthew R. Hipsey

  5. School of Earth and Environment, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Matthew R. Hipsey

  6. Environment Canada, National Water Research Institute, Burlington, ON, L7R 4A6, Canada

    Luis F. Leon

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  1. Serghei A. Bocaniov
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  2. Ralph E. H. Smith
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  3. Claire M. Spillman
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  4. Matthew R. Hipsey
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  5. Luis F. Leon
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Correspondence to Serghei A. Bocaniov.

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Guest editors: D. Straile, D. Gerdeaux, D. M. Livingstone, P. Nõges, F. Peeters & K.-O. Rothhaupt / European Large Lakes III. Large lakes under changing environmental conditions

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Bocaniov, S.A., Smith, R.E.H., Spillman, C.M. et al. The nearshore shunt and the decline of the phytoplankton spring bloom in the Laurentian Great Lakes: insights from a three-dimensional lake model. Hydrobiologia 731, 151–172 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-013-1642-2

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