Nutrient availability in a freshwater-to-marine continuum: Cyanobacterial blooms along the Lake Okeechobee Waterway.

Water from the Lake Okeechobee watershed historically flowed south through the Everglades. Hydrologic alterations created the Lake Okeechobee Waterway, where lake water is periodically shunted east to the St. Lucie Estuary (C-44 canal) and west to the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary (C-43 canal).

Eutrophication leads to food web enrichment and a lack of connectivity in a highly impacted urban lagoon.

Nitrogen (N) loading can affect estuarine food webs through alteration of primary producers. In the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), Florida there has been long-term N enrichment, worsening phytoplankton blooms, large-scale macroalgal blooms, and catastrophic seagrass losses. To investigate how N enrichment affects higher trophic levels and food webs in the IRL, nutrient availability was compared to primary producer and faunal stable N (δN) isotope values.

Fertilizer restrictions are not sufficient to mitigate nutrient pollution and harmful algal blooms in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida.

In Florida's Indian River Lagoon (IRL), anthropogenic eutrophication has resulted in harmful algal blooms and catastrophic seagrass losses. Hoping to improve water quality, policy makers enacted fertilizer bans, assuming that this would reduce the nitrogen (N) load. To assess the effectiveness of these bans, seawater and macroalgal samples were collected at 20 sites "pre" and ~ five-years "post" bans and analyzed to determine concentrations of dissolved nutrients and stable nitrogen isotope values (δN).

Widespread human waste pollution in surface waters observed throughout the urbanized, coastal communities of Lee County, Florida, USA.

The coastal communities of Lee County, Florida, USA have grown rapidly since the 1970s. In this county, drainage ditches, canals, creeks, and the Caloosahatchee River Estuary often have high concentrations of nutrients and bacteria limiting their designated uses. Septic systems have previously been identified as a major pollution source in some areas of Lee County; therefore, this study sought to identify the extent of this issue throughout the county.