Onset and persistence of cyanobacterial blooms in a large impounded tropical river, Australia

2004 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Bormans ◽  
Phillip W. Ford ◽  
Larelle Fabbro ◽  
Gary Hancock

The dynamic interplay between physical, chemical and biological factors in the development and persistence of cyanobacterial blooms in impounded rivers is an important topic. Over a 3-year study period, variable climatic conditions were recorded in the Fitzroy River, Queensland, Australia, which is a typical, impounded lowland tropical river. Post-flood turbidity reduced the available light in the well-mixed water column to levels insufficient for cyanobacterial growth. Only when the water column stratified and the slowly sinking particles dropped from the surface layer did the ratio of surface mixed layer depth to euphotic depth approach 1, allowing cyanobacterial growth. By the time the light climate became favorable, most of the dissolved nutrients had been scavenged from the water column by settling particles or sequestered by fringing macrophytes and other biogeochemical processes. Cyanobacterial blooms dominated by Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii persisted for several months until the next flood flushed the system. The cyanobacterial species dominating that environment were very small and had high specific phosphorus uptake rates. Their nutrient requirement was met by transfer across the oxycline driven by regular high wind mixing events, entraining nutrient-rich bottom waters. Nutrient fluxes from the sediments into the anoxic bottom layer were sufficient to replace the bottom nutrients lost to the surface layer.

2011 ◽  
Vol 71 (2) ◽  
pp. 451-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
AN Moura ◽  
EW Dantas ◽  
HSB Oliveira ◽  
MC Bittencourt-Oliveira

This study analysed vertical and temporal variations of cyanobacteria in a potable water supply in northeastern Brazil. Samples were collected from four reservoir depths in the four months; September and December 2007; and March and June 2008. The water samples for the determination of nutrients and cyanobacteria were collected using a horizontal van Dorn bottle. The samples were preserved in 4% formaldehyde for taxonomic analysis using an optical microscope, and water aliquots were preserved in acetic Lugol solution for determination of density using an inverted microscope. High water temperatures, alkaline pH, low transparency, high phosphorous content and limited nitrogen content were found throughout the study. Dissolved oxygen stratification occurred throughout the study period whereas temperature stratification occurred in all sampling months, with the exception of June. No significant vertical differences were recorded for turbidity or total and dissolved forms of nutrients. There were high levels of biomass arising from Planktothrix agardhii, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Geitlerinema amphibium and Pseudanabaena catenata. The study demonstrates that, in a tropical eutrophic environment with high temperatures throughout the water column, perennial multi-species cyanobacterial blooms, formed by species capable of regulating their position in the water column (those that have gas vesicles for buoyancy), are dominant in the photic and aphotic strata.


Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 1831
Author(s):  
Natalia Herrera ◽  
Fernando Echeverri

Although several theories have been postulated to explain cyanobacterial blooms, their biochemical origin has not yet been found. In this work, we explore the existence of bacterial communication, called quorum sensing, in Microcystis aeruginosa and Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii. Thus, the application of several known acylhomoserine lactones to cultures of both cyanobacteria causes profound metabolic. At 72 h post-application, some of them produced substantial increases in cell proliferation, while others were inhibitors. There was a correlation with colony-forming activity for most of them. According to ELISA analysis, the microcystin levels were increased with some lactones. However, there was a clear difference between M. aeruginosa and C. raciborskii culture since, in the first one, there was an inducing effect on cell proliferation, while in C. raciborskii, the effects were minor. Besides, there were compound inhibitors and inducers of microcystins production in M. aeruginosa, but almost all compounds were only inducers of saxitoxin production in C. raciborskii. Moreover, each lactone appears to be involved in a specific quorum sensing process. From these results, the formation of cyanobacterial blooms in dams and reservoirs could be explained since lactones may come from cyanobacteria and other sources as bacterial microflora-associated or exogenous compounds structurally unrelated to lactones, such as drugs, industrial effluents, and agrochemicals.


Author(s):  
Jessica A. Rubin ◽  
Josef H. Görres

During this 6th Great Extinction, freshwater quality is imperiled by upland terrestrial practices. Phosphorus, a macronutrient critical for life, can be a concerning contaminant when excessively present in waterways due to its stimulation of algal and cyanobacterial blooms, with consequences for ecosystem functioning, water use, and human and animal health. Landscape patterns from residential, industrial and agricultural practices release phosphorus at alarming rates and concentrations threaten watershed communities. In an effort to reconcile the anthropogenic effects of phosphorus pollution, several strategies are available to land managers. These include source reduction, contamination event prevention and interception. A total of 80% of terrestrial plants host mycorrhizae which facilitate increased phosphorus uptake and thus removal from soil and water. This symbiotic relationship between fungi and plants facilitates a several-fold increase in phosphorus uptake. It is surprising how little this relationship has been encouraged to mitigate phosphorus for water quality improvement. This paper explores how facilitating this symbiosis in different landscape and land-use contexts can help reduce the application of fertility amendments, prevent non-point source leaching and erosion, and intercept remineralized phosphorus before it enters surface water ecosystems. This literature survey offers promising insights into how mycorrhizae can aid ecological restoration to reconcile humans’ damage to Earth’s freshwater. We also identify areas where research is needed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (22) ◽  
pp. 4485-4496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ye Tian ◽  
Chao Xue ◽  
Chun-Ying Liu ◽  
Gui-Peng Yang ◽  
Pei-Feng Li ◽  
...  

Abstract. Nitric oxide (NO) is a short-lived compound of the marine nitrogen cycle; however, our knowledge about its oceanic distribution and turnover is rudimentary. Here we present the measurements of dissolved NO in the surface and bottom layers at 75 stations in the Bohai Sea (BS) and the Yellow Sea (YS) in June 2011. Moreover, NO photoproduction rates were determined at 27 stations in both seas. The NO concentrations in the surface and bottom layers were highly variable and ranged from below the limit of detection (i.e., 32 pmol L−1) to 616 pmol L−1 in the surface layer and 482 pmol L−1 in the bottom layer. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) between the mean NO concentrations in the surface (186±108 pmol L−1) and bottom (174±123 pmol L−1) layers. A decreasing trend of NO in bottom-layer concentrations with salinity indicates a NO input by submarine groundwater discharge. NO in the surface layer was supersaturated at all stations during both day and night and therefore the BS and YS were a persistent source of NO to the atmosphere at the time of our measurements. The average flux was about 4.5×10-16 mol cm−2 s−1 and the flux showed significant positive relationship with the wind speed. The accumulation of NO during daytime was a result of photochemical production, and photoproduction rates were correlated to illuminance. The persistent nighttime NO supersaturation pointed to an unidentified NO dark production. NO sea-to-air flux densities were much lower than the NO photoproduction rates. Therefore, we conclude that the bulk of the NO produced in the mixed layer was rapidly consumed before its release to the atmosphere.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 1112
Author(s):  
Guoqing Han ◽  
Changming Dong ◽  
Junde Li ◽  
Jingsong Yang ◽  
Qingyue Wang ◽  
...  

Based on both satellite remote sensing sea surface temperature (SST) data and numerical model results, SST warming differences in the Mozambique Channel (MC) west of the Madagascar Island (MI) were found with respect to the SST east of the MI along the same latitude. The mean SST west of the MI is up to about 3.0 °C warmer than that east of the MI. The SST differences exist all year round and the maximum value appears in October. The area of the highest SST is located in the northern part of the MC. Potential factors causing the SST anomalies could be sea surface wind, heat flux and oceanic flow advection. The presence of the MI results in weakening wind in the MC and in turn causes weakening of the mixing in the upper oceans, thus the surface mixed layer depth becomes shallower. There is more precipitation on the east of the MI than that inside the MC because of the orographic effects. Different precipitation patterns and types of clouds result in different solar radiant heat fluxes across both sides of the MI. Warm water advected from the equatorial area also contribute to the SST warm anomalies.


2008 ◽  
Vol 38 (6) ◽  
pp. 1145-1165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Baylor Fox-Kemper ◽  
Raffaele Ferrari ◽  
Robert Hallberg

Abstract Ageostrophic baroclinic instabilities develop within the surface mixed layer of the ocean at horizontal fronts and efficiently restratify the upper ocean. In this paper a parameterization for the restratification driven by finite-amplitude baroclinic instabilities of the mixed layer is proposed in terms of an overturning streamfunction that tilts isopycnals from the vertical to the horizontal. The streamfunction is proportional to the product of the horizontal density gradient, the mixed layer depth squared, and the inertial period. Hence restratification proceeds faster at strong fronts in deep mixed layers with a weak latitude dependence. In this paper the parameterization is theoretically motivated, confirmed to perform well for a wide range of mixed layer depths, rotation rates, and vertical and horizontal stratifications. It is shown to be superior to alternative extant parameterizations of baroclinic instability for the problem of mixed layer restratification. Two companion papers discuss the numerical implementation and the climate impacts of this parameterization.


2018 ◽  
Vol 69 (3) ◽  
pp. 357
Author(s):  
F. H. Portella Corrêa de Oliveira ◽  
A. N. Moura ◽  
Ê. W. Dantas

The present study demonstrates the effects of abiotic variables on phytoplankton in two different tropical climates. Samples were taken from tropical reservoirs, including six from a tropical climate (As) and five from a semi-arid climate (BSh). Phytoplankton samples were identified, biomass was quantified and climatic and physicochemical variables were evaluated. Canonical analyses were performed in order to observe the effects of abiotic variables on phytoplankton. In both As and BSh ecosystems, the effects of the physicochemical variables were significant, but the synergistic effects between variables and climatic conditions were more pronounced in BSh. Micronutrients had a significant role in structuring the phytoplankton community in both As and BSh. In As, Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii occurred in the presence of lower concentrations of zinc and copper, whereas in BSh this species was present in the presence of higher concentrations of zinc. In the As climate, Geitlerinema amphibium, Cyclotella meneghiniana, Planktothrix agardhii and Microcystis aeruginosa were associated with higher sodium concentrations in the water, whereas in the BSh climate these species experienced lower rainfall. The findings of the present study show that climate determines the effects of abiotic variables on the phytoplankton community in both an independent and synergistic manner. In the present study, phytoplankton in tropical and semi-arid reservoirs is mostly regulated by nutrients, the effects of which vary according to climate.


2008 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-641 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naithirithi Tiruvenkatachary Chellappa ◽  
Sarah Laxhmi Chellappa ◽  
Sathyabama Chellappa

The aim of this work was to study the eutrophication in the tropical freshwater ecosystems and the consequent cyanobacterial bloom formation and economical damage to fisheries and harmful effects to public health. Mass fish mortality due to toxin producing cyanobacterial blooms was registered during December 2003 in Marechal Dutra Reservoir, Acari/RN, Northeast Brazil. Phytoplankton and fish samplings were carried out on alternate days during the episode of fish mortality and monthly during January to June 2004. The cyanobacterial toxin was identified and quantified from the seston samples and liver of the dead fishes using the standard HPLC method. The results indicated that the toxic blooms of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii and Microcystis aeruginosa were persistent for two weeks and represented 90% of the phytoplankton species assemblages. The lethally affected fishes were Oreochromis niloticus, Plagioscion squamosissimus, Cichla monoculus, Prochilodus brevis, Hoplias malabaricus and Leporinus friderici. The microcystin levels varied from 0.07 to 8.73µg L-1 the seston samples and from 0.01 to 2.59µg g-1in the liver samples of the fishes during the bloom period.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Bigdeli ◽  
B. Loose ◽  
S. T. Cole

Abstract. In ice-covered regions it can be challenging to determine air-sea exchange – for heat and momentum, but also for gases like carbon dioxide and methane. The harsh environment and relative data scarcity make it difficult to characterize even the physical properties of the ocean surface. Here, we seek a mechanistic interpretation for the rate of air-sea gas exchange (k) derived from radon-deficits. These require an estimate of the water column history extending 30 days prior to sampling. We used coarse resolution (36 km) regional configuration of the MITgcm with fine near surface vertical spacing (2 m) to evaluate the capability of the model to reproduce conditions prior to sampling. The model is used to estimate sea-ice velocity, concentration and mixed-layer depth experienced by the water column. We then compared the model results to existing field data including satellite, moorings and Ice-tethered profilers. We found that model-derived sea-ice coverage is 88 to 98 % accurate averaged over Beaufort Gyre, sea-ice velocities have 78 % correlation which resulted in 2 km/day error in 30 day trajectory of sea-ice. The model demonstrated the capacity to capture the broad trends in the mixed layer although with a bias and model water velocities showed only 29 % correlation with actual data. Overall, we find the course resolution model to be an inadequate surrogate for sparse data, however the simulation results are a slight improvement over several of the simplifying assumptions that are often made when surface ocean geochemistry, including the use of a constant mixed layer depth and a velocity profile that is purely wind-driven.


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