How’d That Get There?

Phosphorus in Lake Erie is known to contribute to harmful algal blooms (HABs) by providing the cyanobacteria that cause them with a major nutrient they need to grow. Management efforts often focus on reducing the amount of phosphorus that reaches the lake, but targeting those efforts can be difficult when phosphorus could be coming from a wide range of sources.

However, some researchers are digging deeper into ways to identify where exactly that problematic phosphorus is really coming from, drilling down to the molecular level by looking at what other elements are bound to phosphorus in the Lake Erie watershed and finding clues to its origins that way.