Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Lyubov E. Burlakova, Alexander Y. Karatayev, Knut Mehler, Elizabeth K. Hinchey
Summary: Benthic macroinvertebrate communities are useful indicators for assessing environmental and anthropogenic stressors. Traditional grab sampling and processing methods have limitations in quantifying benthic populations. In this study of Lake Erie's benthic community, underwater imagery, water quality, and sediment nutrients data were used to study benthoscapes. Video analysis proved to be a novel, quick, and reliable method for detecting benthic habitats affected by periodic hypoxia.
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Juliane Mai, Hongren Shen, Bryan A. Tolson, Etienne Gaborit, Richard Arsenault, James R. Craig, Vincent Fortin, Lauren M. Fry, Martin Gauch, Daniel Klotz, Frederik Kratzert, Nicole O'Brien, Daniel G. Princz, Sinan Rasiya Koya, Tirthankar Roy, Frank Seglenieks, Narayan K. Shrestha, Andre G. T. Temgoua, Vincent Vionnet, Jonathan W. Waddell
Summary: This study conducted a model intercomparison to compare different model setups in simulating outputs in the Great Lakes region. The results showed that the machine-learning-based model performed the best in simulating streamflow, while the locally calibrated models and regionally calibrated models showed varying performances in different areas. The study also compared additional model outputs, such as evapotranspiration, soil moisture, and snow water equivalent, against gridded reference datasets.
HYDROLOGY AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Zoe A. Pollard, Jillian L. Goldfarb
Summary: By converting waste cherry pits into biochars and activated biochars, efficiency of nutrient use in soil can be improved, reducing nutrient run-off, and potential alleviation of regional environmental issues by removing metals.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Nandita B. Basu, J. Dony, K. J. Van Meter, Samuel J. Johnston, Anita T. Layton
Summary: Excess nutrient inputs from agricultural and urban sources have led to eutrophication and algal blooms in the Great Lakes Basin. Using a random forest machine learning model, we found that land use and management, including agricultural and urban land, tile drainage, and wetland density, are important predictors of nutrient concentrations in the basin. The study highlights the importance of livestock and drainage management, as well as wetland restoration, in addressing eutrophication in intensively managed landscapes.
Article
Microbiology
Paulina Fermani, Sebastian Metz, Vanessa Balague, Jean Pierre Descy, Cedric Morana, Ramiro Logares, Ramon Massana, Hugo Sarmento
Summary: The study revealed a high diversity of protists in the East African Great Lakes, with a large proportion of unknown species suggesting novel diversity. Environmental factors such as geography, depth, and water properties play significant roles in shaping the protistan community composition and distribution in these lakes.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Microbiology
Kyle M. J. Mayers, Constanze Kuhlisch, Jonelle T. R. Basso, Marius R. R. Saltvedt, Alison Buchan, Ruth-Anne Sandaa
Summary: Viruses in the ocean are diverse in terms of size, host specificity, and infection cycle. They play a significant role in redirecting nutrients and can be ingested by nonhost organisms. This review focuses on the elemental composition and biogeochemical relevance of marine viruses, particularly the Nucleocytoviricota group, which includes large viral particles that serve as prey for marine grazers. The presence of lipid membranes in these viruses further enhances their nutritional value. Future research and technological advancements are needed to better understand this process.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Keenan Munno, Paul A. Helm, Chelsea Rochman, Tara George, Donald A. Jackson
Summary: Freshwater ecosystems, especially in Lake Ontario, are highly contaminated with microplastics, with fish ingesting a significant amount of anthropogenic particles, mostly microfibers. The most common microplastics found in the gastrointestinal tracts of fish were polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene. The abundance of anthropogenic particles in fish increased with size and there is concern that the environmental exposure may exceed risk thresholds.
CONSERVATION BIOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Joshua M. Tellier, Nicholas Kalejs, Benjamin S. Leonhardt, David Cannon, Tomas O. Hook, Paris D. Collingsworth
Summary: The Wubi input method has become a widely used Chinese input method, especially in computer input, and has been widely recognized by users. The Wubi input method was developed by Xu Zheng in the early 1980s, and the initial version was based on the input method of radicals. Later, after continuous improvement and perfection, multiple versions were launched. The characteristics of the Wubi input method are fast, accurate, and can be personalized based on the user's input habits.
JOURNAL OF GREAT LAKES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Ryuichiro Shinohara, Shin-Ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Mirai Watanabe, Megumi Nakagawa, Hajime Yoshida, Ayato Kohzu
Summary: We examined the factors of warm air temperatures, high solar radiation, and weak wind speeds in causing hypoxia in a shallow lake during a heat wave. By simulating dissolved oxygen concentrations in the lake's bottom water, we compared the concentrations in 2022 with the average concentrations of the past 30 years. Our findings showed that wind speeds had the greatest impact on hypoxia occurrence. Insufficient convection led to hypoxia when wind speeds were low, but there was no hypoxia when the wind speed matched the 30-year average. However, if solar radiation and air temperatures matched their respective 30-year averages, hypoxia did not occur even with low wind speeds. Therefore, we concluded that the combination of weak winds and either high solar radiation or air temperatures induced hypoxia during the 2022 heat wave.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yan Lin, Staci L. Capozzi, Li Lin, Lisa A. Rodenburg
Summary: The study identified five sources of PFAS in fish from the Great Lakes using PMF analysis, including emissions from primary and secondary sources, PVDF manufacture or processing, hot spots near air force bases, and metabolism of precursors. The spatial variations of these sources showed unexpected low values near urbanized areas, potentially due to unique wastewater and stormwater infrastructure or atmospheric transport of precursors. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of PMF in source apportionment of PFAS in fish despite ADME processes potentially altering fingerprints in fish compared to their surrounding environment.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Yao Guo, Songsong Gu, Kaixuan Wu, Andrew J. Tanentzap, Junqi Yu, Xiangfen Liu, Qianzheng Li, Peng He, Dongru Qiu, Ye Deng, Pei Wang, Zhenbin Wu, Qiaohong Zhou
Summary: Microbes in aquatic environments play a critical role in carbon cycling, but our understanding of how they respond to temperature changes across large regions is limited. In this study, we investigated 47 lakes from different regions in China and found that warmer lakes had lower carbon concentrations and higher carbon utilization compared to colder lakes. The changes in bacterial community composition and core species affected the carbon utilization, suggesting that temperature mediates aquatic carbon cycling by altering the interactions between bacteria and carbon substrates.
GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Shawn M. Doyle, Miabel J. Self, Joseph Hayes, Kathryn E. F. Shamberger, Adrienne M. S. Correa, Sarah W. Davies, Lory Z. Santiago-Vazquez, Jason B. Sylvan
Summary: In July 2016, a severe coral mortality event occurred in the East Flower Garden Bank coral reef in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico. Analysis of microbial communities suggests that widespread oxygen depletion in the thermocline may have contributed to the event.
APPLIED AND ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Stephen F. Jane, Gretchen J. A. Hansen, Benjamin M. Kraemer, Peter R. Leavitt, Joshua L. Mincer, Rebecca L. North, Rachel M. Pilla, Jonathan T. Stetler, Craig E. Williamson, R. Iestyn Woolway, Lauri Arvola, Sudeep Chandra, Curtis L. DeGasperi, Laura Diemer, Julita Dunalska, Oxana Erina, Giovanna Flaim, Hans-Peter Grossart, K. David Hambright, Catherine Hein, Josef Hejzlar, Lorraine L. Janus, Jean-Philippe Jenny, John R. Jones, Lesley B. Knoll, Barbara Leoni, Eleanor Mackay, Shin-Ichiro S. Matsuzaki, Chris McBride, Dorthe C. Muller-Navarra, Andrew M. Paterson, Don Pierson, Michela Rogora, James A. Rusak, Steven Sadro, Emilie Saulnier-Talbot, Martin Schmid, Ruben Sommaruga, Wim Thiery, Piet Verburg, Kathleen C. Weathers, Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer, Kiyoko Yokota, Kevin C. Rose
Summary: The concentration of dissolved oxygen in aquatic systems plays a crucial role in regulating biodiversity, nutrient biogeochemistry, greenhouse gas emissions, and drinking water quality. Climate change and human activities have led to declines in dissolved oxygen in lakes, impacting the physical and chemical environment, as well as essential ecosystem services.
Article
Fisheries
Marco A. Rodriguez, Geoffrey Marselli, Nicholas E. Mandrak
Summary: This study examined the responses of vulnerable fish species to environmental stressors using a joint species distribution model (JSDM). The JSDM provided more precise estimates of responses than single-species models, and the habitat associations inferred from JSDM overlapped with those provided in COSEWIC status reports. The model-derived responses can provide a management-friendly basis for species classification in terms of their tolerances to environmental change.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF FISHERIES AND AQUATIC SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Astronomy & Astrophysics
Robert W. Sterner
Summary: The Laurentian Great Lakes are complex systems with diverse biogeochemical processes, but our understanding of them is still incomplete. These lakes play a crucial role in supporting millions of people and driving trillions of dollars of economic activity, with biogeochemical changes impacting their functioning.
ANNUAL REVIEW OF EARTH AND PLANETARY SCIENCES, VOL 49, 2021
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Eric R. Gann, Alexander R. Truchon, Spiridon E. Papoulis, Sonya T. Dyhrman, Christopher J. Gobler, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: The pelagophyte Aureococcus anophagefferens causes harmful brown tide blooms in marine embayments on three continents. By sequencing genomes and analyzing metatranscriptomes, researchers were able to gain insights into the genetic potential and ecology of this harmful algal bloom species. This study highlights the importance of sequencing ecologically relevant algae for a better understanding of their genomic potential and ecological roles in the environment.
JOURNAL OF PHYCOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ferdi L. Hellweger, Robbie M. Martin, Falk Eigemann, Derek J. Smith, Gregory J. Dick, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: This study conducted a large-scale meta-analysis and found that the succession of harmful cyanobacteria strains is mainly influenced by cellular oxidative stress mitigation strategies and nitrogen limitation. The simulation results showed that reducing phosphorus load can decrease the biomass of cyanobacteria, but increase toxin production and concentration.
Article
Microbiology
Helena L. Pound, Robbie M. Martin, Brittany N. Zepernick, Courtney J. Christopher, Sara M. Howard, Hector F. Castro, Shawn R. Campagna, Gregory L. Boyer, George S. Bullerjahn, Justin D. Chaffin, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: The environmental conditions experienced by microbial communities are difficult to simulate in the laboratory. Researchers use experimental containers to manipulate and evaluate natural samples. However, container-based methods can be affected by bottle effects, which are changes that occur when enclosing the plankton community. In a nutrient amendment experiment, changes in heterotrophic bacteria activity and variability in the expression of Microcystis-infecting phage were observed.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Limnology
Laura E. Sofen, Olga A. Antipova, Michael J. Ellwood, Naomi E. Gilbert, Gary R. LeCleir, Maeve C. Lohan, Claire Mahaffey, Elizabeth L. Mann, Daniel C. Ohnemus, Steven W. Wilhelm, Benjamin S. Twining
Summary: Nano- and picophytoplankton, which are major components of open-ocean ecosystems, have little known information about their trace metal contents. This study found that iron limitation reduced iron quotas in Ostreococcus lucimarinus cultures, while the iron contents in Prochlorococcus cultures varied with iron availability. Additionally, the availability of macronutrients and metals may play equally important roles in controlling metal contents of small eukaryotic phytoplankton in the open ocean.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Brittany N. Zepernick, Elizabeth R. Denison, Justin D. Chaffin, George S. Bullerjahn, Christa P. Pennacchio, Thijs Frenken, Daniel H. Peck, James T. Anderson, Derek Niles, Arthur Zastepa, R. Michael L. McKay, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: This study reports the assembled metatranscriptomes of microbial communities in Lake Erie surface water, revealing the dominance of diatoms in both winter and spring months. The analysis was conducted across spatial, temporal, and climatic gradients from 2019 to 2020.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Alexander R. Truchon, Eric R. Gann, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: In this study, we assembled the genomic sequence of Aureococcus anophagefferens virus into a circular contig using Nanopore and Illumina reads. The genome is 381,717 bp long with a GC content of 29.1%, including a previously unidentified 5-kb region between the predicted polar ends of the reference genome.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Article
Microbiology
Robbie M. Martin, Eric R. Gann, Alex R. Truchon, Gregory L. Boyer, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: Pseudanabaena spp. are filamentous cyanobacteria commonly found in temperate lakes. They can occasionally form harmful algal blooms, and a high-quality genome of a toxic crimson cyanobacterial bloom in Lake Salubria, NY was presented.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Brittany N. Zepernick, Steven W. Wilhelm, George S. Bullerjahn, Hans W. Paerl
Summary: This article discusses the problem of the freshwater-marine continuum, which refers to the effects of nutrients and toxic cyanobacterial blooms spreading through water bodies. Historically, marine and freshwater research have been conducted independently, failing to address the exchange of nutrients and biology between these systems.
ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOLOGY REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Brittany N. Zepernick, Alexander R. Truchon, Eric R. Gann, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: In this study, we present the assembled and annotated genome of the freshwater diatom Fragilaria crotonensis SAG 28.96. The nuclear genome, with a size of 61.85 Mb, was assembled into 879 contigs and has a GC content of 47.40%. It contains 26,015 predicted genes and exhibits a completeness of 81%.
MICROBIOLOGY RESOURCE ANNOUNCEMENTS
(2022)
Editorial Material
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ferdi L. Hellweger, Charlotte Schampera, Robbie M. Martin, Falk Eigemann, Derek J. Smith, Gregory J. Dick, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: In response to the criticism by Huisman et al., this article demonstrates that their claims are based on incomplete evidence, misinterpretation of data, or do not actually refute our model. While our model, like any ecosystem models, has its simplifications and uncertainties, it outperforms existing approaches that ignore biology and cannot predict toxin concentration.
Article
Microbiology
Brittany N. Zepernick, David J. Niknejad, Gwendolyn F. Stark, Alexander R. Truchon, Robbie M. Martin, Karen L. Rossignol, Hans W. Paerl, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: Research has shown that high pH levels decrease growth and Si deposition rates in freshwater diatoms, but the physiological mechanisms and transcriptional responses associated with these observations remain to be fully documented. This study suggests potential mechanisms contributing to morphological and physiological effects of pH shifts on diatoms.
FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Limnology
Robbie M. Martin, Maddie K. Denney, Helena L. Pound, Justin D. Chaffin, George S. Bullerjahn, R. Michael L. McKay, Arthur Zastepa, Katarina A. Jones, Hector F. Castro, Shawn R. Campagna, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: Phosphorus availability plays a crucial role in primary production and cyanobacterial blooms in lakes. Phospholipid substitution by sulfolipids has been established as an indicator of phosphorus stress in marine phytoplankton. This study shows that sulfatequinovosyldiacylglycerol (SQDG) to phosphatidylglycerol (PG) ratio can serve as a biomarker for phosphorus stress in freshwater phytoplankton communities, providing valuable insights into nutrient history and phosphorus scarcity.
LIMNOLOGY AND OCEANOGRAPHY
(2023)
Article
Microbiology
Naomi E. Gilbert, Gary R. LeCleir, Helena L. Pound, Robert F. Strzepek, Michael J. Ellwood, Benjamin S. Twining, Simon Roux, Philip W. Boyd, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: Viruses can impact the abundance, evolution, and metabolism of microorganisms in the ocean, playing a critical role in biogeochemistry and carbon cycles. This study investigates the diversity and activity of giant viruses in the subpolar Southern Ocean and finds that these viruses exhibit depth-dependent structuring and metabolic reprogramming of their hosts under different physicochemical conditions. Additionally, the study shows that iron availability affects the activity of giant viruses. These findings enhance our understanding of how the water column and environmental factors shape the viral community in the Southern Ocean.
Article
Marine & Freshwater Biology
Gwendolyn F. Stark, Robbie M. Martin, Laura E. Smith, Bofan Wei, Ferdi L. Hellweger, George S. Bullerjahn, R. Michael L. Mckay, Gregory L. Boyer, Steven W. Wilhelm
Summary: The increase in microcystin quota per cell in Microcystis aeruginosa PCC 7806 provides a fitness advantage during growth at lower temperatures, while a non-toxigenic mutant strain employs compensatory mechanisms to defend against reactive oxygen species without the presence of microcystin.
Article
Microbiology
Daniel J. Wieczynski, Kristin M. Yoshimura, Elizabeth R. Denison, Stefan Geisen, Jennifer M. DeBruyn, A. Jonathan Shaw, David J. Weston, Dale A. Pelletier, Steven W. Wilhelm, Jean P. Gibert
Summary: We provide a roadmap for understanding the impact of viral infections within microbial food webs on ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling in the context of global warming. Microorganisms play a crucial role in carbon and nutrient cycles and act as a link between ecosystems and climate. However, viral infections within complex microbial food webs pose a significant challenge in predicting and understanding ecosystem responses to warming. We highlight the need for further research on virus-microbe-temperature interactions and their effects on ecosystem functioning in the face of climate change.
FEMS MICROBIOLOGY ECOLOGY
(2023)