News
Research Article on Hypoxia in Muskegon Lake, Michigan Published in Journal of Great Lakes Research
February 06, 2018
The article, currently published online in JGLR, documents the presence and variance of low dissolved oxygen (hypoxia) in the bottom waters of Muskegon Lake from 2011 to 2013 using Muskegon Lake Observatory Data. The presence of hypoxia was also verified by seasonal monitoring performed by AWRI, which noted hypoxia at several locations in the lake since 2003, and by several dissolved oxygen profiles performed around the lake in 2011 and 2012. Hypoxia was found to be quite persistent and variable in the bottom waters of Muskegon Lake throughout the summer. Hypoxia is of concern as it becomes more common to water bodies worldwide, due to its negative impacts on the ability for fish to breathe as well as the release of phosphorus from the sediments which can induce harmful algal blooms.