Life Sciences Commons^™

Trophic Dynamics And Cyanobacteria Blooms In Shallow Eutrophic Bays Of Lake Champlain, Rebecca Michelle Gorney

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

This study was conducted to evaluate the relative roles of trophic dynamics and nutrient concentrations in the development of cyanobacteria blooms. The motivation for this research was to gain insights into how food webs respond to ecosystem-scale changes, using Lake Champlain as a case study. I sought to link field-based observations with experimentally derived data on mechanisms to better understand the processes that drive cyanobacteria blooms. My research addressed three specific topics: (1) associations among phytoplankton and nutrient concentration trends over time, (2) the impacts of planktivory by invasive fish on the ambient zooplankton community, and (3) the role of …