The relationship between environmental factors and cyanobacteria population in Lake Bloomington and Evergreen Lake in McLean County, Illinois

This thesis investigates cyanobacteria on two lakes in McLean County, Illinois from the months of August to October. Data was collected every other week.Cyanobacteria are prokaryotes that may be unicellular, colonial or filamentous in form. These cells can be known to be toxic or non-toxic. The factors that control the reproduction of cyanobacteria are the temperature and nutrients of nitrogen and phosphorus. These microorganisms are located in marine and terrestrial settings worldwide. The focus of this study was at two man-made lakes which are Lake Bloomington and Lake Evergreen. Sampling and collection of data was done on two lakes to view the cyanobacteria concentration. The data collection was done using a YSI Exo Sonde 1 to profile the water column for two main reasons which are chorlophyll a and phycocyanin. The other sensors on the probe also collected data for temperature, depth, conductivity, and dissolved oxygen. Samples were taken for the use of a FlowCam, Flow Injection Analysis for nitrogen and phosphorus, and chlorophyll a analyses. Results showed that cyanobacteria increased with the rise of water temperature and a higher concentration of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water