Recorded: January 25, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. ET.

Presenters Sergei Katsev, University of Minnesota-Duluth and Derek Schlea, LimnoTech will present the latest research on the role dreissenid mussels play in nutrient cycling.

Nutrient recycling in sediments in the era of quagga mussels
Sergei Katsev, University of Minnesota – Duluth

Sediment processes recycle nutrients back to the water column and regulate their long-term availability to primary producers. This talk will discuss how the spread of the quagga mussels over the bottoms of the Great Lakes has affected nutrient biogeochemistry. The availability of phosphorus, in particular, is now tied to the dynamics of mussel populations, while the role of external P inputs is diminished.

Lake Erie Ecosystem Model (LEEM): Assessing Ecosystem Indicators for the Western, Central, and Eastern Basins
Derek Schlea, LimnoTech

The Lake Erie Ecosystem Model is a process-based water quality and lower food web model that is configured to simulate the three significant endpoints in Lake Erie: harmful algal blooms in the Western Basin, hypoxia in the Central Basin, and nuisance Cladophora growth in the Eastern Basin. The LEEM framework provides a tool that can be used to evaluate the response of these endpoints to a variety of stressors, including external nutrient loadings, meteorological conditions, and dreissenid mussels. This presentation will introduce the LEEM with an emphasis on the dreissenid mussel sub-model including initialization and preliminary results from diagnostic scenarios.