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Freshwater Science: Monitoring Microcystin Production Rates in Western Lake Erie | Ohio Sea Grant

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Freshwater Science: Monitoring Microcystin Production Rates in Western Lake Erie

February 26, 2025 – New research from Ohio Sea Grant, Stone Lab and the Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative

Microcystin toxins created by cyanobacteria are a major threat to both the environment and to human health in Lake Erie’s western basin. Understanding cyanobacterial growth rates, microcystin production rates, and what drives them will be crucial to creating a Lake Erie microcystin forecast to minimize our exposure to the toxins and understand how management actions may affect future blooms’ biomass and toxicity.

In 2023 and 2024, researchers led by Dr. Justin Chaffin of The Ohio State University sampled several sites throughout Lake Erie’s western basin and Maumee Bay. They monitored microcystin production rates and cyanobacteria growth rates using laboratory experiments with ambient conditions and elevated phosphorus and nitrogen. Results yielded various insights about harmful algal blooms on Lake Erie.

About the Speaker

Justin Chaffin
Justin Chaffin Stone Laboratory, The Ohio State University

Dr. Justin Chaffin’s research interest is Lake Erie phytoplankton ecology with particular interest in cyanobacterial blooms (cHABs). His recent and ongoing research projects include linking experiments and models to predict cHAB toxicity, investigations into central basin cHABs, determining drivers of benthic algal blooms, the effectiveness of data buoys at measuring cHAB biomass, rapid microcystin tests, and saxitoxin production in inland lakes. Since 2013 Chaffin has coordinated with charter boat captains who collect water samples once a week for his lab to analyze, and then the captains get a weekly update on Lake Erie water quality.

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Freshwater Science webinar series, go.osu.edu/OSGWebinars