GLIN==> Correction: Study looks toward nitrogen as big contributor to Lake Erie's Dead Zone

Note: Correction to reflect oxygen consumed rather than nitrogen.

Study looks toward nitrogen as big contributor to Lake Erie's Dead Zone 

October 13, 2009

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

KENT, OH - For more than 30 years, scientists have pointed toward phosphorus
as the key to Lake Erie's Dead Zone. But new research from Ohio Sea Grant
researchers Dr. Darren Bade and Dr. Bob Heath of Kent State University has
found that a different nutrient-nitrogen-could be contributing as much as
80% of the oxygen loss.

 

The nitrification process that occurs in Lake Erie consumes four atoms of
oxygen as certain kinds of bacteria break apart ammonium (NH4), first
creating nitrite (NO2) and then nitrate (NO3). Since summer 2008, Bade and
Heath have collected water and sediment samples in Sandusky Bay, hoping to
find evidence of nitrification. 

 

"Our studies to date show that nitrification can account for between 5% and
80% of the oxygen consumed," Bade says. "That seems to point to a great deal
of nitrification, but we haven't been able to explain the variation. We
thought it would be tied to the amount of ammonium available, but so far we
haven't shown that to be the case."

 

Bade and Heath are currently testing bacteria in the collected samples to
determine how many of them are genetically capable of performing
nitrification. "We're measuring the numbers of those genes that you can find
in a community, asking if there is a relationship between the numbers of
nitrifying bacteria and the nitrification rate," Heath explains. The team
will continue to collect samples seasonally through summer 2010 to
strengthen their early observations. 

 

"Finding this connection would conceivably mean having to completely recast
the management strategies for Lake Erie," says Heath. "Until now, all of the
plans have been based on phosphorus and focused on limiting phosphorus. This
would change everything." 

 

To read more about this Ohio Sea Grant-funded research, visit
http://ohioseagrant.osu.edu/_documents/twineline/v31i3.pdf

 

The Ohio State University's Ohio Sea Grant College Program is part of NOAA
Sea Grant, a network of 30 Sea Grant Programs dedicated to the protection
and sustainable use of marine and Great Lakes resources. For information on
Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Lab, visit ohioseagrant.osu.edu.

 

###

 

Contact: 

 

Dr. Darren Bade, Kent State University, dbade at kent.edu, 330.672.4639

 

Dr. Bob Heath, Kent State University, rheath at kent.edu

 

 

Stacy Brannan

Associate Editor

Ohio Sea Grant and Stone Laboratory

1314 Kinnear Road

Columbus, OH 43212

614.247.7109

brannan.16 at osu.edu

 

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