Farmers wary about alarms, actions raised by Lake Erie report on algae bloom
Summary:
In 2011, there was a record algae bloom on Lake Erie that closed beaches and caused fish die-offs and water restrictions. Therefore, the International Joint Commission, a U.S.-Canadian advisory board for Great Lakes issues decided that phosphorus flowing from sources such as farms and fertilized lawns must be dramatically reduced. The main source of the nutrient problems in the lake is from farms where manure on ice/snow covered ground and fertilizer applications in wet springs cause runoff. The commissions want to reduce nutrient loads by 40%, especially in the spring where the farmers tend to use fertilizer the most. However, this could increase prices at the supermarket. Nevertheless, the International Joint Commission still believes that the cause is worth the increased prices. This is due to the massive algae bloom of Lake Erie in 2011. It spread over 2,000 square miles of the lack and was visible from outer space. Since Lake Erie also happened to be the shallowest of the Great Lakes, this caused the problem to grow even bigger for many “dead zones” (low-oxygen) were created. The algae that caused the bloom are a microcystis algae that releases a toxin potentially harmful to humans and wildlife. In fact, in 2011, the toxin reached 224 times the ‘safe’ level. Fortunately, many farmers are beginning to reduce their tillage (agitation of the soil), which dramatically reduces runoff.
Relevance:
The article relates strongly to unit eight, microbes. Algae blooms is a serious and deadly problem throughout the world. Farmers use fertilizer to make their plant grow faster and stronger. However, if this fertilizer runs-off the land and into a lake, such as Lake Erie, then the fertilizer causes huge problems. Just like plants, algae thrive off of nitrogen and phosphorus, making them grow faster. Because they can multiple extremely fast, the microbes can cover great distances in a short amount of time. If there is too much algae, then they can block out the sunlight and the oxygen (caused by the decomposing bacteria), thus creating a dead zone. In this ‘zone,’ no fish, or aquatic insects can survive. Therefore, it is critical for us to prevent algae blooms before they happen by limiting the amount of runoff.
Citation:
Author:
Keith Matheny
Date of Publication:
February 28, 2014
Article Link:
What kind of algae covered the lake?
ReplyDeletePrimarily microcystis aeruginosa, an algae toxic to mammals.
DeleteDo they know what kind of fish were in the lake and how that algae might effect a different type of fish.
ReplyDeleteWhile the bloom does not DIRECTLY affect the fish, the bloom still is not good for marine life. The most common fish is white bass that would die because it would have nothing to feed off of
Delete