Poster Details
SPATIAL VARIATION IN WATER AND SEDIMENT PHOSPHORUS CHEMISTRY IN MILFORD LAKE
Phosphorous (P) is a key nutrient that can encourage algal and cyanobacterial growth. Should these “blooms” turn toxic, cyanobacteria can contaminate drinking water, creating human health concerns. Phosphorous (P) from water is assimilated into algal and cyanobacterial cells to support growth and held inside the cell until it dies, creating organic phosphorus that is broken down into the sediment and then dissolved back into the lake water column. For this study we want to know how P, as soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP), varies in the surface and bottom waters of Milford Reservoir. To analyze SRP in the water column, we collected triplicate filtered samples from the epilimnion and hypolimnion at 30 locations in Milford Reservoir in August and October 2018. In August, we found a 2-fold change across the lake, with the highest concentrations of SRP in the hypolimnion of Zone C. This is likely due to high sediment phosphorus and anoxic conditions near the sediment-water interface. Our work can assist managers with understanding how variation in water and sediment P may fuel areas of high algal growth, thereby fueling the persistent harmful algal blooms at Milford Lake.
Abagael Pruitt (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Notre Dame, apruitt2@nd.edu;
Emma Overstreet (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), Kansas Biological Survey, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, evover@live.com;
Amy Burgin (Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Kansas, burginam@ku.edu;
Kynser Wahwahsuck (Primary Presenter/Author,Co-Presenter/Co-Author), University of Kansas, kwahwah11@gmail.com;