THE IMPACT OF RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT ON CYANOBACTERIA COLONIZATION IN PONDS OF PLYMOUTH, MA

Cyanobacteria are microscopic organisms found in ponds and other bodies of water, and when a bloom occurs it can be extremely toxic to the organism and to the environment. I sampled ten ponds in Plymouth, MA to determine the correlation between residential development and the amount of cyanobacteria present and have found that ponds with more residential development had more cyanobacteria.