Phytoplankton Composition and Temporal Variation among the Three Basins of Lake Whatcom, Washington

Date of Award

1988

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Environmental Science

First Advisor

Matthews, Robin A., 1952-

Second Advisor

Lacher, Thomas E.

Third Advisor

Matthews, Geoffrey B., 1951-

Abstract

The phytoplankton populations were studied over a one year period in the three basins of Lake Whatcom, a warm, monomictic, chain lake in northwestern Washington. The water quality in all three basins was similar while the lake was unstratified. Following stratification, basins 1 and 2 developed anoxic hypolimnia, with subsequent release of ammonia and phosphorus from the sediments, while basin 3 had relatively high concentrations of oxygen throughout the water column. During the summer the flow out of basin 1 was greatly reduced, while the flow in basin 2 was maintained through the municipal water withdrawal by the City of Bellingham, WA. Water quality conditions developed in basin 1 that favored the growth of the blue-green alga Coelosphaerium naegelianum (low concentrations of combined, inorganic nitrogen and low N:P ratios). Coelosphaerium biovolume in basin 2 was approximately 3% that of basin 1 while basin 3 did not develop a significant blue-green algal population. Although the Coelosphaerium blooms were correlated with the internal release of ammonia and phosphorus during stratification, basin 2 did not develop Coelosphaerium blooms similar to basin 1 because of the greater inflow of water from basin 3, which contained comparatively higher concentrations of nitrate, and because of the increased flushing rate in basin 2 due to the municipal water withdrawal.

Type

Text

Keywords

Lake Whatcom phytoplankton populations, Water quality conditions, Coelosphaerium naegelianum, Anoxic hypolimnia

Publisher

Western Washington University

OCLC Number

84524204

Geographic Coverage

Whatcom, Lake, Watershed (Wash.)

Format

application/pdf

Genre/Form

masters theses

Language

English

Rights

Copying of this thesis in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.

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