Microbial communities associated with sympagic and planktonic habitats during a polar vortex influencing the North American Great Lakes Basin.

Microbial communities in Lake Erie and nearby inland lakes were characterized through V4-5 rRNA sequencing during winter 2015, where temperature departures of 12°F-15°F in the lower Great Lakes were recorded. Diatoms were in greater relative abundance in Lake Erie, whereas inland lakes and Sandusky Bay were dominated by flagellate phototrophs.