SCCF: Diversity of phytoplankton in Caloosahatchee
The Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) reported that a study that started in 2018 to characterize phytoplankton and identify toxic blooms has revealed a surprising diversity in a water body designed to convey water quickly to the estuary.
Straightened in the 19th century, the Caloosahatchee River’s meandering character was eliminated, creating an efficient flowway to protect the Everglades Agricultural Area and areas around Lake Okeechobee from flooding.
To increase and improve data collection and monitoring from the lake to the Gulf of Mexico, the SCCF Marine Lab led an effort with the University of Florida (UF) and the University of South Florida (USF) in a project called CLEW.
“CLEW refers to Coupling Lake Estuary and Watershed models, which required more data on phytoplankton communities from the system to help us understand the drivers and causes of harmful algal blooms (HABs) that caused widespread ecological and economic damage in 2018,” Marine Lab Director Dr. Eric Milbrandt said.
A new, peer-reviewed, journal article published in the Journal of Environmental Management is one of a half dozen publications from the project. Phytoplankton taxonomic experts are Susan Badylak and Dr. Ed Phlips from UF. Titled “Influence of regulated water discharges on phytoplankton composition and biomass in a subtropical canal,” the article reveals the diversity of the freshwater canal that the water management agencies call the C-43 Canal, which is the Caloosahatchee River in its current state.
“Several species had not been found in Florida previously and there were dinoflagellates that have never been described and are new to science,” Milbrandt said. “The research highlighted an extraordinary diversity of dinoflagellates, a group of phytoplankton known primarily from the marine-dominated Gulf of Mexico.”
The findings demonstrate that potentially toxic phytoplankton blooms, such as blue-green algae (cyanobacteria or Microcystis), originated from Lake Okeechobee and were transported downstream.
However, during the summer months when rainfall was higher and the lake discharges were minimized, the number and types of dinoflagellates in the canal were high and could form blooms.
The grants supporting the work include funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) South Florida program and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) program.
To view the article, visit https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S030147972403456X.