Primary productivity studies in Onondaga Lake, N. Y.

Summary

Monthly determinations for photosynthetic rates, respiration rates, and estimates of the standing crop by means of algal counts and ash-free dry weights were made from May through October, 1967, in Onondaga Lake, New York. This lake is a small, urban, bradcish, grossly polluted environment. It receives daily 200 million liters of partially treated sewage, 172 metric tons of calcium chloride, 32 metric tons of calcium sulfate, one metric ton of grease and oil and 22 kg of heavy metals.

Two stations, one at the South end which receives chiefly organic pollution and one at the North end which receives mostly inorganic pollution, were established to determine if there were any differences in algal metabolism. It was demonstrated, at the 99 per cent level of confidence, that there was a significant difference between the two stations. The technique described in this experiment is being used as a base-line method for recording the increase of eutrophication in Onondaga Lake.