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MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN INDUSTRIAL-MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER STORAGE LAGOONS: BIOTA AND ENVIRONMENT
Citation:
Frykberg, W., C. Goodnight, AND P. Meier. MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN INDUSTRIAL-MUNICIPAL WASTEWATER STORAGE LAGOONS: BIOTA AND ENVIRONMENT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/3-77/039.
Description:
A limnological investigation was carried out on two 344 hectare (850 acre) industrial-municipal wastewater storage lagoons from August 1973 until August 1975. Besides monitoring physical and chemical parameters during the period of the initial filling, the biological community was critically examined for the purpose of documenting ecological succession over this two year period. In general, the lagoons remained aerobic, well mixed vertically and slightly alkaline. The low transparency within the lagoons was an important factor which limited the phytoplankton population and excluded rooted aquatics and benthic algae. Ample nutrients were present for algal demands. The lagoon's phytoplankton-protozoan assemblage was extremely variable with respect to total abundance distribution. The zooplankton community was composed of fourteen species of free living crustaceans and four species of rotifers. The benthic fauna consisted of a small number of organisms representing only a few taxonomic groups.