N.O.A.A. Awards Grant to Investigate Impacts of Land Use and Climate Change on Hypoxia in Green Bay, Lake Michigan
|
 |
Category: ClimateType: News
Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Date: Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Scientists researching the causes and effects of hypoxia in Green Bay, part of Lake Michigan, Wisc., have been awarded $348,037 for the 1st year of an anticipated four-year $1,367,300 plan through NOAA's Coastal Hypoxia Research Plan. Hypoxia within Green Bay has been a problem for decades, and recent evidence suggests that it may be worsening, with the potential for "dead zones" and fish kills to become both more frequent and more extensive with a changing climate.
Hypoxia is a condition in which dissolved oxygen levels in water become too low to support most life. While hypoxia can occur naturally, it is often caused by excess nutrients from human activities such as agriculture and urban stormwater runoff, which stimulate algal blooms. These blooms of algae decompose through the action of bacteria that deplete oxygen from the water, and in the process, negatively affect the growth, reproduction, and survival of organisms exposed to the low oxygen conditions.
Green Bay is particularly vulnerable to hypoxia because one-third of the watershed of Lake Michigan drains into it, and it gains approximately one-third of the total amount of nutrients draining into the lake.
A team of scientists from within the University of Wisconsin system (Milwaukee, Green Bay and Madison), the Green Bay Metropolitan Sewerage District, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources will evaluate watershed sources of nutrients, lake water stratification (the layering of the water by temperature that prevents dissolved oxygen from reaching bottom waters) and summertime wind conditions to develop a predictive model of potential changes in hypoxia relative to land use change and future climate change.
"These results will help us identify acceptable limits for nutrient levels in the water so we can begin to reduce hypoxia in Green Bay," said Nicole Clayton, Wisconsin department of natural resources, impaired waters and total maximum daily load coordinator.
"This plan is an excellent example of NOAA's efforts to provide actionable information to managers for ecosystem based management," said Robert Magnien, Ph.D., director of NOAA's Center for Sponsored Coastal Ocean Research. "The complexity of linking multiple processes in the watershed with those in Great Lakes and coastal waters demand new state-of-the art ecological forecasting tools that also incorporate climate change."
NOAA's mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Visit us on Facebook.
There are currently no comments for this story. Be the first to
add a comment!
Click here to add a comment about this story.
N.O.A.A. Plan to Investigate Impacts of Shallow Water Hypoxia in Chesapeake Bay
... . Researchers also project to study acidification in the Chesapeake Bay, which is linked to hypoxia and may exacerbate its impact on fish and oysters. "This research will enhance our efforts to accelerate the ...
New N.O.A.A. Plan Awards $1 Million to Prevent and Control Harmful Algal Blooms Impacting Atlantic Coastal Communities
... produce large fish kills and lead to seagrass die-offs in mid-Atlantic coastal ... make this vision a reality." This plan is authorized by the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and ... Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act . "The new PCMHAB plan adds ...
N.O.A.A. Awards $2.4 Million to Refine Management Strategies for the Northern Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone
... that generate about $2.8 billion annually. High resolution (Credit: NOAA) Scientists researching the causes and impacts of the dead zone in the northern Gulf of Mexico have been awarded in excess of $2.4 ...
Smaller Than Expected, But Severe, Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico
... and Donald Scavia, Ph.D. of the University of Michigan, predicted a larger than normal dead zone area of between 7,450 - ... 's Southeast Monitoring and Assessment Plan found a similar sized dead zone during its yearly five-week summer fish survey. N.O.A.A. ...
N.O.A.A. Forecast Predicts Large "Dead Zone" for Gulf of Mexico this Summer
... Consortium, Louisiana State University, and the University of Michigan is forecasting that the "dead zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in ... hypoxia programs authorized by the Harmful Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and Control Act. Data from the ...
N.O.A.A. Forecasts Larger than Normal "Dead Zone" for Gulf this Summer
... the system. The nitrogen data are provided by the U.S.G.S.. N.O.A.A. funds research cruises to track development of hypoxia. The "Dead Zone" is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where seasonal oxygen levels drop too low ...
N.O.A.A. Scientists Issue Dead Zone Forecast
... Mexico Hypoxia Watch Page: http://www.ncddc.noaa.gov/ecosystems/hypoxia N.O.A.A. Scientists Issue Dead Zone Forecast Category: Climate Type: News Source: National Oceanic and ...
NOAA, Louisiana Scientists Issue “Dead Zone” Forecast
... , each model predicted roughly the same size of the "Dead Zone" for this year. The modeling effort led by Eugene Turner, ... July," said Nancy Rabalais, Ph.D., chief scientist for hypoxia research at LUMCON. "The additional input of freshwater and nutrients ...
NOAA, Louisiana Scientists Issue First-Ever "Dead Zone" Forecast
... monthly since January. Rabalais, chief scientist for hypoxia research at LUMCON, explains that the "algal blooms that ... noaa.gov/ NOAA, Louisiana Scientists Issue First-Ever "Dead Zone" Forecast Category: Climate Type: ...
N.O.A.A. Awards 1st Installment of $2.3 Million Grant to University of Michigan to Study Hypoxia Impact on Estuarine Ecosystems
... experience natural or human-induced hypoxia at some time each year, and evidence suggests that its frequency and ... degradation as a result of nutrient enrichment will be investigated: the effects of land-use change in the watershed, estuary sensitivity, and ...
