Tracking cyanobacteria blooms: Do different monitoring approaches tell the same story?

Cyanobacteria blooms are a major environmental issue worldwide. Our understanding of the biophysical processes driving cyanobacterial proliferation and the ability to develop predictive models that inform resource managers and policy makers rely upon the accurate characterization of bloom dynamics. Models quantifying relationships between bloom severity and environmental drivers are often calibrated to an individual set of bloom observations, and few studies have assessed whether differences among observing platforms could lead to contrasting results in terms of relevant bloom predictors and their estimated influence on bloom severity.

Record-setting algal bloom in Lake Erie caused by agricultural and meteorological trends consistent with expected future conditions.

In 2011, Lake Erie experienced the largest harmful algal bloom in its recorded history, with a peak intensity over three times greater than any previously observed bloom. Here we show that long-term trends in agricultural practices are consistent with increasing phosphorus loading to the western basin of the lake, and that these trends, coupled with meteorological conditions in spring 2011, produced record-breaking nutrient loads. An extended period of weak lake circulation then led to abnormally long residence times that incubated the bloom, and warm and quiescent conditions after bloom onset allowed algae to remain near the top of the water column and prevented flushing of nutrients from the system.

Interannual variability of cyanobacterial blooms in Lake Erie.

After a 20-year absence, severe cyanobacterial blooms have returned to Lake Erie in the last decade, in spite of negligible change in the annual load of total phosphorus (TP). Medium-spectral Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) imagery was used to quantify intensity of the cyanobacterial bloom for each year from 2002 to 2011. The blooms peaked in August or later, yet correlate to discharge (Q) and TP loads only for March through June.

AN "ENVIRO-INFORMATIC" ASSESSMENT OF SAGINAW BAY (LAKE HURON, USA) PHYTOPLANKTON: DATA-DRIVEN CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING OF MICROCYSTIS (CYANOPHYTA)(1).

Phytoplankton and Microcystis aeruginosa (Kütz.) Kütz. biovolumes were characterized and modeled, respectively, with regard to hydrological and meteorological variables during zebra mussel invasion in Saginaw Bay (1990-1996).

Microcystin concentrations and genetic diversity of Microcystis in the lower Great Lakes.

The resurgence of Microcystis blooms in the lower Great Lakes region is of great concern to public and ecosystem health due to the potential for these colonial cyanobacteria to produce hepatotoxic microcystins. A survey of Microcystis cell densities and microcystin concentrations during August 2004 showed particularly high concentrations of both cells and toxin in the nearshore regions of Saginaw Bay (Lake Huron) and western Lake Erie, often exceeding the World Health Organization's recommended drinking water limit of 1 microg L(-1). The dominant congener of microcystin in both basins was microcystin-LR (MC-LR), whereas the second most abundant congeners, accounting for up to 20-25% of the total microcystin concentrations, were MC-LA in Saginaw Bay and MC-RR in western Lake Erie.

Simplified enrichment and identification of environmental peptide toxins using antibody-capture surfaces with subsequent mass spectrometry detection.

The development of a simplified assay for detection of congeners of the microcystin (MC) hepatotoxin is described that combines the extreme sensitivity of surface-enhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MS (SELDI TOF-MS) with the superior selectivity of immunoaffinity interactions. Using methods similar to those of conventional immunoassays, MC standards were captured and enriched on immunoreactive ProteinChips coated with an MC-antibody and analyzed by TOF-MS. Unlike with conventional immunoassays, individual congeners were resolved from mixed pools.