Dr. Charles Ramcharan, associate professor at the school of environment and department of biology, along with student Mathiew Dykstra, have discovered that housing developments are directly linked to algae blooms.
Laurentian University has hired a full-time entrepreneurship co-ordinator who will build and implement a program to foster an entrepreneurial culture across Sudbury's three post-secondary institutions, in collaboration with NORCAT's Innovation Mill. File photo.
Dr. Charles Ramcharan, associate professor at the school of environment and department of biology, along with student Mathiew Dykstra, have discovered that housing developments are directly linked to algae blooms.
The study began last fall, with the two testing nutrient levels in three different sites; one with no development, one with seasonal development (cottages) and one with permanent houses.
“The two spots with the highest density showed signals of higher levels of nutrient input,” said Ramcharan.
“Coincidentally, these were areas where there were frequent blue-green algal blooms.”
What this information means, according to Ramcharan, is that it can be used as a tool for lake managers to quickly identify where nutrients like phosphorus are entering the lake in order to take a proactive approach in deterring the algal blooms.
“Instead of having a general idea of where nutrients are entering, they can say this site is a definite input and this site is not, so they would be able to quickly identify problem spots,” said Ramcharan.
The method employed by Ramcharan and Dykstra is the use of algae itself, in the form of diatoms.
“Looking for nutrients directly is time consuming and expensive,” said Ramcharan. “What we do is use a type of algae that grows in a glass case, and because they're glass, when they die they don't decompose and the cases stay there. Some grow in high nutrient levels some grow in low level, so what you end up with is an index because these things grow attached to rocks, so all you have to do is go and sample the rocks, scrape some algae and prepare the sample and see what's there.”
Nutrients like phosphorus are associated with the inflow of fertilizers, sediment and sewage that enter the lakes through drainage basins, and these high nutrient levels are typically seen in lakes with frequent blue-green algal blooms.
Known to scientists as cyanobacteria, blue-green algae are present in almost all lakes in Canada and they usually multiply during the summer months, feeding on nutrients, carbon dioxide and light.
While they usually form a thick, soupy layer on the water's surface, they can also be submerged and flourish for many weeks without being detected.
“Our research suggests that blue-green algal blooms can be minimized through better shoreline management, including more stringent inspections of septic beds and other sources of nutrient inputs,” said Ramcharan.
The associate professor has not yet made any plans to publish the study, and is hoping to expand to more lakes and bays to get a better understanding of the occurrence of these blooms.
