Bloom Biophysics and Remote Sensing
As a part of two new multi-disciplinary teams, we’re working to understand the effect of waves in lakes on algal bloom initiation, cyanotoxin aerosol production (Shingai and Wilkinson 2023), and bloom senescence. We’re also partnering with remote sensing experts to develop hyperspectral image workflows for tracking blooms and other components of lake biology and chemistry.
Phosphorus Cycling
Phosphorus (P) release from lakebed sediments may fuel algal blooms, especially in shallow ecosystems (Wilkinson and Albright 2023). A primary mechanism that controls internal P loading is the size and chemical composition of the sediment P pool, which my lab found varies substantially both within and among lakes (Albright et al. 2022). This spatial variation combined with fluctuating environmental drivers leads to hot spots and hot moments of internal P loading (Albright et al. 2023, Walter et al. 2023). Additionally, we have been collaborating with other groups to understand the role of groundwater (Brookfield et al. 2021) and iron availability (Leung et al. 2021) in algal blooms.
Long-Term Trends and Short-Term Dynamics of Algal Blooms
The interaction between eutrophication and climate change has been hypothesized to drive recent, widespread intensification of blooms in inland waters, although there is little empirical evidence that this trend is pervasive. Using water quality monitoring data, we demonstrated that bloom intensification in inland waterbodies over the past few decades – defined as trends in chlorophyll-a of increasing bloom magnitude, severity, or duration – has not been widespread for hundreds of lakes in the US (Wilkinson et al. 2022). On a shorter timescale, phytoplankton biomass and spatial pattern responds to disturbances such as storm events (Ortiz et al. 2021) that bring nutrients or light-absorbing organic matter into lakes. We’re working to understand how antecedent conditions set the stage for phytoplankton response to storm events during the summer.