Harmful Cyanobacterial Blooms (HCBs) in Freshwaters–an Increasing Global Concern

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water and One Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 November 2022) | Viewed by 5904

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Guest Editor
Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
Interests: aquatic microbial ecology; cyanobacterial blooms; environmental education; science communication; citizen science
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Harmful cyanobacterial Blooms (HCBs) are predicted to become more intense and frequent under the global warming context, with serious environmental and socio-economic consequences worldwide due to their ecological impacts and toxic outcomes.

Freshwater bodies, in particular, will be severely affected, with direct impacts for local communities. This makes research and monitoring approaches crucial to manage the water quality of inland waters, providing tools to control and mitigate the massive development of potentially toxic cyanobacteria. On the other hand, environmental awareness and participative science approaches with local populations may play an important role in developing and implementing integrated water management strategies. This Special Issue of Water intends to gather recent research trends for freshwater HCBs, namely regarding: (1) monitoring approaches (from in situ to remote sensing methodologies); (2) occurrence and ecological trends (from metagenomics to biogeography); (3) secondary metabolites (from production to quantification and toxicity); (4) alternative water treatment methodologies;  (5 )Forecasting approaches using AI (Artificial Intelligence)-based predictive modelling; (6) environmental awareness and citizen science.

Dr. Daniela R. De Figueiredo
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • cyanobacterial blooms
  • inland waters
  • monitoring approaches
  • ecology
  • secondary metabolites
  • environmental awareness
  • citizen science

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 1970 KiB  
Article
Short-Term Meteorological Conditions Explain Cyanobacterial Blooms in a Tropical Reservoir
by Florencia Soledad Alvarez Dalinger, Verónica Laura Lozano, Claudia Nidia Borja, Liliana Beatriz Moraña and Salusso María Mónica
Water 2023, 15(2), 302; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w15020302 - 11 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1500
Abstract
Cyanobacterial blooms represent a major problem in reservoirs that are used for potable water supplies. The El Limón reservoir is one of the main reserves of water for consumption in northern Argentina (22°6′12.29″ S). This study analyzed the role of abiotic factors in [...] Read more.
Cyanobacterial blooms represent a major problem in reservoirs that are used for potable water supplies. The El Limón reservoir is one of the main reserves of water for consumption in northern Argentina (22°6′12.29″ S). This study analyzed the role of abiotic factors in the promotion of blooms in El Limón during warm seasons and explored the physical and chemical parameters affecting the morphological development of the most abundant cyanobacteria species. The results showed that short-term meteorological variations correlated with cyanobacterial abundances in this shallow reservoir. Average daily temperatures for 6 and 8 months before the sampling date were positively correlated with cyanobacterial abundances as well as filament length, while accumulated precipitation limited the abundances of cyanobacteria. Considering the highly probably effects of short-term meteorological factors on cyanobacterial blooms, the results support the need for continuous and periodic monitoring of tropical reservoirs. Full article
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24 pages, 3876 KiB  
Article
Cyanobacterial Bloom Phenology in Green Bay Using MERIS Satellite Data and Comparisons with Western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay
by Timothy T. Wynne, Richard P. Stumpf, Kaytee L. Pokrzywinski, R. Wayne Litaker, Bart T. De Stasio and Raleigh R. Hood
Water 2022, 14(17), 2636; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/w14172636 - 26 Aug 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1713
Abstract
Cyanobacteria blooms have been reported to be increasing worldwide. In addition to potentially causing major economic and ecological damage, these blooms can threaten human health. Furthermore, these blooms can be exacerbated by a warming climate. One approach to monitoring and modeling cyanobacterial biomass [...] Read more.
Cyanobacteria blooms have been reported to be increasing worldwide. In addition to potentially causing major economic and ecological damage, these blooms can threaten human health. Furthermore, these blooms can be exacerbated by a warming climate. One approach to monitoring and modeling cyanobacterial biomass is to use processed satellite imagery to obtain long-term data sets. In this paper, an existing algorithm for estimating cyanobacterial biomass previously developed for MERIS is validated for Green Bay using cyanobacteria biovolume estimates obtained from field samples. Once the algorithm was validated, the existing MERIS imagery was used to determine the bloom phenology of the cyanobacterial biomass in Green Bay. Modeled datasets of heat flux (as a proxy for stratification), wind speed, water temperature, and gelbstoff absorption along with in situ river discharge data were used to separate bloom seasons in Green Bay from bloom seasons in nearby cyanobacteria bloom hotspots including western Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay. Of the ten-year MERIS dataset used here, the highest five years were considered “high bloom” years, and the lowest five years from biomass were considered “low bloom” years and these definitions were used to separate Green Bay. Green Bay had a strong relationship with gelbstoff absorption making it unique among the water bodies, while western Lake Erie responded strongly with river discharge as previously reported. Saginaw Bay, which has low interannual bloom variability, did not exhibit a largely influential single parameter. Full article
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22 pages, 3060 KiB  
Article
Removal of Cylindrospermopsin by Adsorption on Granular Activated Carbon, Selection of Carbons and Estimated Fixed-Bed Breakthrough
by Caio César Antonieti and Yovanka Pérez Ginoris
Water 2022, 14(10), 1630; https://doi.org/10.3390/w14101630 - 19 May 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1733
Abstract
Climate change and the increase in the availability of nutrients in aquatic environments have increased the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms which can produce cyanotoxins such as cylindrospermopsin (CYN). Activated carbon adsorption have been proved to be efficient for CYN removal. In the present [...] Read more.
Climate change and the increase in the availability of nutrients in aquatic environments have increased the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms which can produce cyanotoxins such as cylindrospermopsin (CYN). Activated carbon adsorption have been proved to be efficient for CYN removal. In the present study, a carbon with high CYN adsorption capacity was identified between two granular activated carbons. For this carbon was estimated the operating time of a full-scale granular activated carbon column under different empty bed contact times (EBCT). The fixed-bed breakthrough was estimated using the Homogeneous Surface Diffusion Model (HSDM). Wood carbon showed greater capacity to remove CYN. The experimental equilibrium data best fitted Langmuir isotherm model, in which wood carbon had a maximum adsorption capacity of 3.67 μg/mg and Langmuir adsorption constant of 0.2791 L/μg. The methodology produced satisfactory results where the HSDM simulated the fixed-bed breakthrough with a coefficient of determination of 0.89, to the film diffusion coefficient (Kf) of 9 × 106  m/s and surface diffusion coefficient (Ds) of 3 × 10−16 m2/s. It was observed that the increase in EBCT promotes a reduction in the carbon use rate. The best carbon use rate found was 0.43 kg/m3 for a EBCT of 10 min and breakthrough time of 183.6 h. Full article
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