Abstract
The effects of increased water temperature on algal community composition were investigated in Lake Sinclair, Baldwin County, Georgia, USA. The lake received waste cooling water from a coal burning power plant. Discharges of recycled lake water were, on average, 15°C ± 1.5°C (and up to 23°C) warmer than typical ambient temperatures. Seasonal changes in algal composition were observed, and the warmer sample site had a greater diversity of diatom species year round independent of changes in temperature. Thermal pollution created a high percent dissimilarity between diatoms at the warmer site and the remainder of the lake. Species turnover observed in natural samples was not detected for the warmer site. Anthropogenic thermal pollution was implicated as the factor inducing changes in the natural algal community composition, which may impact other trophic levels and ultimately the overall ecology of Lake Sinclair.
Highlights
The effects of increased water temperature on algal community composition were investigated in Lake Sinclair, Baldwin County, Georgia, USA
Anthropogenic thermal pollution was implicated as the factor inducing changes in the natural algal community composition, which may impact other trophic levels and the overall ecology of Lake Sinclair
Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes the ambient water temperature
Summary
Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes the ambient water temperature. It has been reported that cooling systems from coal burning power plants have no harmful effects on a system as a whole [2]. Water from the lake is used to cool the turbines of a coal burning Power plant. The effects of thermal pollution have been documented previously [12], and it was reported that approximately 3% of the lake was directly impacted by water that was too warm when it was released. Cooling towers are supposed to decrease water temperature to ambient temperatures before being released, reducing the impact of thermal pollution on the surrounding system [13]. In 2002, Georgia Power finished installing a cooling tower to comply with Georgia Environmental Protection Division’s (GA EPD) [14] regulation to control effluent water temperature. Three sites that the State monitored on Lake Sinclair provided additional temperature information in this study for the baseline conditions within the lake
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