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Near shore sediment diatoms of the great lakes and their use as biological indicators
Author(s) -
Ferguson M. J.,
Halady S. W.,
Sgro G. V.,
Johansen J. R.
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
journal of phycology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.85
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1529-8817
pISSN - 0022-3646
DOI - 10.1111/j.0022-3646.2003.03906001_46.x
Subject(s) - shore , sediment , water quality , environmental science , ecosystem , sampling (signal processing) , lake ecosystem , hydrology (agriculture) , nutrient , oceanography , ecology , physical geography , biology , geography , geology , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , filter (signal processing) , computer science , computer vision
The great Lakes Environmental Indicators (GLEI) project, funded through the U.S. EPA, has set goals to identify taxa that will be useful in determining ecosystem integrity in near shore waters of the Great Lakes ecosystem. Through the development of biological indices, rapid, consistent, and inexpensive methods of bioassessment of the Great Lakes can be utilized. This particular study focuses on the use of near shore sediment diatoms. Sediment core collection and water sampling and analysis were completed at nearly 100 stratified randomly selected sites across all five of the Great Lakes. Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated a gradient of water quality throughout the Great Lakes. Lake Superior was determined to have the lowest concentration of measured nutrients, while Lake Erie and Lake Ontario had the highest. Lake Michigan and Lake Huron shared a similar transitional water quality. Although analyses and indices have been developed thus far, GLEI is in its third year of a 4‐year schedule.