Allinger, Lisa EReavie, EuanUniversity of Minnesota Duluth. Natural Resources Research Institute2015-04-142017-04-142015-04-142017-04-142014https://hdl.handle.net/11299/186098The most recently-available phytoplankton data collected by the US EPA’s Great Lakes monitoring program indicate algal abundance is on the increase again. We are currently applying a diatom- based indicator approach in a new long-term paleolimnological application (left) to address issues requiring long-term data for water quality management and remedial decisions.Lake Erie is well known for its cultural perturbations with an extensive history of monitoring and paleolimnoloigcal studies, particularly those using diatoms, that present evidence of major change in the lake’s environmental quality. The lake’s biological and physical processes are strongly affected by its topography and division into three basins. Species known to be tolerant to eutrophic conditions and those common in oligotrophic to mesotrophic lakes were relatively abundant in presettlement assemblages, inferring that the lake was at least seasonally productive prior to Euro-American settlement. Overall abundance of diatoms was relatively low during presettlement, but relative abundance was high for some speciesen-USPostersResearch PostersUniversity of Minnesota DuluthOther