| Description |
Utah Lake is the largest freshwater lake in the western United States located near Provo, Utah. It receives discharges from point and nonpoint sources and has only one outlet North of it in the form of Jordan River. In recent years, the lake has been experiencing algal blooms that have caught attention of many state agencies including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To understand the dynamics of harmful algal blooms, Utah Lake was sampled at five sites during the summer of 2016, which included the largest algal bloom in the lake. To determine the relationship between harmful cyanobacterial blooms (CyanoHABs) to environmental factors, water samples were collected from May to August in the summer of 2016. Sediment core samples were also collected one time in August. The average temperature increased from 15.69 o C in May to 22.85 o C in July and then reached 23.72 o C in August. Chlorophyll a concentrations and pH were the highest during the bloom in July. High through-put amplicon sequencing results show that Synechocuccos sp. dominated the cyanobacterial community before and after the bloom, while Aphanizomenon flos-aquae dominated during the bloom. The toxic Microcystis aeruginosa appeared at several sites during and after the bloom. As for sediments, Aphanizomenon flos-aquae dominated most sites. Based on Principle Component Analysis, the growth of Aphanizomenon flos-aquae depended on pH, temperature, phosphate, and chlorophyll a. Synechocuccos sp's growth had a negative correlation with Aphanizomenon flos-aquae's growth. |
