Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Garland, Darren
• Lucy, Frances
• Touzet, Nicolas

Titel

Summer dynamics of cyanobacteria in an oligo-mesotrophic temperate lake in Northwest Ireland

Ist Teil von

• Hydrobiologia, 2023-11, Vol.850 (19), p.4327-4341

Ort / Verlag

Cham: Springer International Publishing

Erscheinungsjahr

2023

Quelle

SpringerLink

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Despite the potential adverse consequences they can impart on biotopes, cyanobacteria are an understudied component of lake plankton communities in Ireland. This study, in summer 2019, examined cyanobacterial diversity and associated environmental variables in a lake previously impacted by algal blooms, in north-west Ireland. Vertical profiling showed that photosynthetic pigment concentrations were spatially heterogenous for the majority of the survey. However, water column homogeneity was observed towards the end of the survey, coinciding with increases in pigment concentrations. Sunshine hours, nutrient concentrations and wind speed were stable throughout the survey. Spatial homogeneity in pigments was attributed to an increase in minimal temperatures observed in the water column. PCR-DGGE analysis identified patterns in community composition, indicating a rise in cyanobacterial richness concomitant to increase in temperature and photosynthetic pigments. Band sequencing analysis identified phylotypes similar to the toxigenic species Microcystis sp. These were prominent at the end of the survey and coincided with the presence of the mcyE gene and low levels of microcystins, as indicated by real time PCR and ELISA analyses. The summer background presence of toxigenic cyanobacteria with potential bloom-forming capacity highlights the importance of annual lake cyanotoxin monitoring to inform resource management to protect human and animal health.