Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: Our outreach component of the project includes the lake monitors providing samples to our Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (LLMP). We also provide technology transfer to lake association members, such as assisting in the selection of equipment for monitoring lake water quality. We also regularly interact with biologists and water managers through the NH Dept. of Environmental Services (NH DES) and the NH Lakes Association on matters of water quality, cyanobacteria toxins and public health related. Upon request by NH DES or other NH State agencies, we test for MC concentrations in lakes used for drinking water when cyanobacteria blooms are noted, as well as tissue analyses of birds, mammals and fish, when cyanotoxins are suspected in their death. For example, in response to the NH DES, we discovered high levels of microcystins in water samples from the Meredith, NH water supply (L. Waukeewan). We then advised officials of the water treatment plant in Meredith on the dangers of
cyanotoxins in drinking water and how to deal with such outbreaks of cyanobacteria. The research on cyanotoxins has been incorporated into the Field Limnology course (Zool 719) to provide training for undergraduate and graduate students in the field of biotoxins research. Finally, through our capstone course entitled "Lake Management: a Multidisciplinary Approach" we have teams of students interface with lake associations and towns to assist them in developing lake management plans that incorporate our latest information on how to best manage a lake to minimize the problems of eutrophication and cyanobacteria. For example, in 2006, students presented to the residents a lake a management plan for Silver Lake (Hollis, NH) that dealt with the recurrent problem of toxic cyanobacteria blooms. Results from the project have been presented as follows: NH Lakes Congress, 17 June 2006, Concord, NH, Global Climate Changes and NH Lakes; NH Dept Environmental Services, Concord, NH, Report on
Cyanotoxins in NH Lakes; Shoals Marine Laboratory, 4 June 2006 & 31 May 2007, Appledore Isle, ME, HABs and Biotoxins in Lakes; UNH Manchester Class on Climate Change and Public Health, February, 2005-7, Manchester, NH, Climate Change, Biotoxins and Public Health; Milton Three Ponds Protective Association, Milton, NH, Water Quality Changes and Cyanobacteria Toxins in Milton 3-Ponds, May 2007; Pawtuckaway Lake Protective Association, Nottingham, NH, April 2007, The Problem of Cyanobacteria Toxins in Pawtuckaway Lake. Students who completed degrees with this project: Sonya Carlson, MS Zoology, May 2007; Travis Godkin, MS Zoology, Dec 2007; Greg Decelles BS Biology 2005; Jessica Trout-Haney, BS Biology 2006; Tye Kindinger, BS Biology 2007. Ya Zhang Rote, Veternary Medicine Student, Tufts University Summer 2007. The research on cyanotoxins has been incorporated into the Field Limnology course (Zool 719) to provide training for undergraduate and graduate students in the field of biotoxins
research.
PARTICIPANTS: James Haney, Professor of Zoology, University of New Hampshire, was a PI on the project, head of the UNH Biotoxins Laboratory and supervisor for graduate and undergraduate students who worked with the project. He taught courses that collected data for the project (Field Limnology) and utilized the results from the project (Lake Management Class). Jeffrey Schloss, Extension Faculty in Zoology, University of New Hampshire, was a Co-PI with responsibility for much of the outreach activity associated with the project, especially associated with the UNH Lakes Lay Monitoring Program. John Sasner, Professor Emeritus in Zoology, University of New Hampshire, was a Co-PI who supervised laboratory biotoxin analyses and data interpretation. All three PIs are members of the UNH Center for Freshwater Biology. Graduate students who assisted directly in the project include Shane Bradt, PhD in Zoology, Sonya Carlson, MS in Zoology, Travis Godkin, MS in Zoology and Amanda Murby, MS in
Zoology. Sonya Carlson was a teaching assistant in the Field Limnology, 2004-5 and Amanda Murby was the TA in 2006-7. Three undergraduate senior Theses were completed in the project (Greg Decelles, Tye Kindinger and Jessica Trout-Haney)and additional undergraduate projects testing the application of phycocyanin fluorescence to measure toxic Microcystis ((Uyen-Mai T. Doan, Monika Schmuck, Andrew Chapman). Stephanie Allard was a High School senior Laboratory Intern who assisted with a variety of laboratory experiments. Contacts and collaborators at the NH Dept of Environmental Services include Jacquie Colburn, Lakes Coordinator, Paul Currier, Head of the Watershed Bureau, NH DES, and Jody Connor, Director of the Limnology Center, NH DES. Numerous formal and informal presentations on the results of our project and problems with cyanobacteria toxins were given by J. Haney at meetings of the NH DES Lakes Management Advisory Committee, of which he was Chair. A special workshop was held at
UNH in May, 2005 on the role of cyanotoxins in the loss of common loon populations in New England. Present at this meeting were Dr. Mark Pokras, Tufts Veternary School, Harry Vogel, President, NH Loon Preservation Committee, Tuftonboro, NH, Dr. Dave Evers, Biodiversity Research Institute, Gorham, ME. Since then this group has continued to meet 1-2 times a year to develop research projects on the biotoxins in birds. We are currently developing a technique to measure the microcystin content of bird feathers as a tool for monitoring the load of cyanotoxins in aquatic birds, such as loons, ducks and herons.
TARGET AUDIENCES: Two major target audiences include students, lake associations and state and federal agencies. Numerous graduate and undergraduate students received training in the study of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins by working in this project. Lake associations provide a direct link to people who are likely to initiate actions to to protect lakes, such as reducing nutrients that cause cyanobacteria blooms. State agency personnel, such as NH DES and NH DRED, were trained in toxin analysis or were assisted in developing measures to protect the public from exposure to cyanotoxins such as microcystins. Methods used to reach these audiences included presentations, information flyers, in-class training, workshops and meetings.
Impacts
Using methods that enhance the sensitivity of the ELISA microcystin analysis we demonstrated that lake cyanotoxins are produced by large bloom forming cyanobacteria typical of eutrophic lakes as well as by the smallest single celled cyanobacteria (picoplankton 0.2-2 micrometers). Surface blooms of the large cyanobacteria pose the greatest direct threat to public health, whereas the picocyanobacteria move through the lake food web and bioaccumulate microcystins (MCs) in trophic levels such as zooplankton, mussels, fish and birds. The relative abundance of picoplankton was negatively correlated with measures of trophic status, such as chlorophyll and total phosphorus. Phytoplankton fluorescence in the most pristine lake sampled (Merrymeeting L.) was essentially entirely from picoplankton, accompanied by low levels of MCs (4.3 pg/ml) likely attributable to picocyanobacteria or Pcy. We also examined the accumulation of MCs in hepatopancrease (HP) and adductor muscle
tissues of the bivalves in an oligotrophic lake as well as a mesoeutrophic lake with known cyanobacteria blooms. Accumulated MC levels in the mesoeutrophic lake were approximately 2 and 70 times that in mussels from the oligotrophic lake for adductor muscle and HP tissues, respectively. As part of our project we have developed a new method of extracting and testing for microcystins from subsamples or "punches" from chlorophyll filters collected by lake monitors. The purpose of this method is to allow citizen monitors to collect samples that can be used for monitoring chlorophyll a and cyanotoxins in lakes and that can be easily incorporated into existing programs. The final testing of this method will be completed in the Spring, 2008. We are also assisting the NH Department of Recreation and Economic Development to develop a new management plan for the Lake Ossipee Natural Area. We have provided the NH DRED with results with the freshwater mussel Elliptio complanata population on Lake
Ossipee and Silver Lake (Hollis) and their role in feeding on the cyanobacteria and other phytoplankton in the lakes. Preliminary plans are being developed to protect mussel bed areas from public boat traffic to preserve this natural filtration system in the lake. The results of our study have been shared with NH state officials with whom we have developed a statewide program for detecting surface blooms of cyanobacteria. We have also trained NH DES personnel in the sampling and measurement of microcystins. In July, 2007, NH DES determined that cyanobacteria densities (Anabaena) in Willand Pond (Dover/Somersworth, NH) represented a potential public health threat and asked that we examine the lake for cyanotoxins. We immediately conducted a synoptic survey of the entire lake in which we found exceedingly high cyanobacteria concentrations using fluorometry as well as high levels of microcystin toxins. The lake was posted with signs describing the health risks of cyanobacteria toxins and
recreational uses were banned for the entire summer. We are currently sharing water quality data with the state and assisting these cities with broader lake management plans.
Publications
- Trubetskova, I.L. and J.F. Haney. 2006. Effects of differing concentrations of microcystin-producing Microcystis aeruginosa on growth, reproduction, survivorship and offspring of Daphnia magna. Archiv f. Hydrobiol. 167: 533-546.
- Carey CC, J F Haney and K L Cottingham. 2007. First report of microcystin-LR in the cyanobacterium Gloeotrichia echinulata. Environ Toxicology 22: 337-9
- Carlson, Sonya. 2007. Toxin-producing Microcystis aeruginosa: A trade-off in the vertical distribution of three Daphnia species as predicted by the ideal free distribution with costs model. Univ. New Hampshire Master of Science Thesis. 56 pp.
- Godkin, W.T. 2007. The effect of cyanobacteria and their chemical cues on the surface area of the third thoracic limb of Daphnia. Univ. New Hampshire Master of Science Thesis. 76 pp.
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Progress 10/01/04 to 09/30/05
Outputs
Previous studies at UNH, and elsewhere, have revealed the cosmopolitan and ubiquitous nature of cyanobacteria toxins, called microcystins (MCs), in nutrient-enriched or eutrophic systems, as well as lakes of more pristine quality. The specific food web components that produce, and accumulate, MCs in oligotrophic and mesotrophic lakes is unclear. One objective of our work is to determine the importance of picoplankton in lakes of different trophy and evaluate the importance of picoplankton in the production and transfer of MCs in the lake food. ELISA methods were used to estimate the contribution of MCs from the net phytoplankton (>50 um) versus the smaller sized nano-plankton (2-30 um) and tiny picoplankton (<2 um). Further, fluorescence methods were used to measure the chlorophyll a components of the size fractions noted above. The relative abundance of picoplankton was negatively correlated with measures of trophic status, such as chlorophyll and total phosphorus.
Phytoplankton fluorescence in the most pristine lake sampled (Merrymeeting L.) was mainly from picoplankton, accompanied by low levels of MCs (4.3 pg/ml) likely attributable to picocyanobacteria or Pcy. Further sampling on a seasonal basis will test the validity of these early findings, but our study indicates that the Pcy component of the phytoplankton contributes significant quantities of MC in certain lakes. Microcystins are produced by Microcystis in colonial form (net phytoplankton) and in individual cells. Although the mechanisms differ, both cyanobacteria forms may alter the fecundity, feeding, growth and survival rates of some grazers (i.e., daphnids). Within the next year we will use lab cultures to establish the specific toxicity of the smaller picoplankton before using new optical bioassay methods to determine the effects of different-sized phytoplankton components on the fitness parameters noted above. Further, we have developed micro ELISA methods to measure MC levels in
individual zooplankton. We plan to initiate testing of the size selective filter feeding of Elliptio complanata, our most common bivalve in NH lakes. Of special interest is their impact on cyanobacteria populations and their role in passing MCs through the food web. This spring we will begin testing the efficacy of a newly developed in situ fluorometer to detect cyanobacteria and the contribution of Pcy directly in lakewater. Our research outcomes have important implications to both lake management and source water management and protection interests. The current outreach component of the project includes the involvement of lake monitors to provide samples to our Lakes Lay Monitoring Program (LLMP) and provide technology transfer to lake association members. We also regularly interact with biologists and water managers through the NH Dept. of Environmental Services and the NH Lakes Association on matters of water quality, cyanobacteria toxins and public health matters. We have also
set up advanced MC analysis training sessions for NH DES. Future outreach efforts will include working with public water supply scientists and managers.
Impacts
Microcystins (MCs) are liver toxins produced by cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) in lakes and ponds. Our previous research demonstrated that these toxins are present in a wide range of lakes throughout New Hampshire. Our present study will identify which organisms produce MCs in NH lakes and track their movement into the lake food web. This information will assist in the management of lakes for cyanotoxins and water quality and will be also be of use to surface water suppliers of drinking water.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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