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.

Distributed wastewater treatment offers an environmentally preferable alternative to conventional septic systems in Central Florida.

Wastewater management is a critical issue globally. In Florida, the importance of this issue is heightened by the proximity to sensitive ecosystems. Distributed wastewater treatment units (DWTU) are a recent, state-approved alternative to septic system conversions to centralized sewer infrastructure.

Septic system-groundwater-surface water couplings in waterfront communities contribute to harmful algal blooms in Southwest Florida.

As human population growth has expanded in Southwest Florida, water quality has become degraded with an increased occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs). Red tide (Karenia brevis) originating offshore, intensifies in nearshore waters along Florida's Gulf Coast, and blue-green algae (Microcystis spp.) originating in Lake Okeechobee is discharged into the Caloosahatchee River.

Dynamics of microcystins and saxitoxin in the Indian River Lagoon, Florida.

Harmful algal blooms that can produce toxins are common in the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), which covers ~250 km of Florida's east coast. The current study assessed the dynamics of microcystins and saxitoxin in six segments of the IRL: Banana River Lagoon (BRL), Mosquito Lagoon (ML), Northern IRL (NIRL), Central IRL (CIRL), Southern IRL (SIRL), and the St. Lucie Estuary (SLE).

Nutrient over-enrichment and light limitation of seagrass communities in the Indian River Lagoon, an urbanized subtropical estuary.

Historically, extensive seagrass meadows were common throughout the Indian River Lagoon (IRL) in east-central Florida, USA. Between 2011 and 2017, widespread catastrophic seagrass losses (~95%) occurred in the IRL following unprecedented harmful algal blooms (HABs), including persistent brown tides (Aureoumbra lagunensis). Little is known about how dissolved nutrients and chlorophyll a are related to light limitation or how biochemical factors, such as the elemental composition (C:N:P) and stable isotope signatures (δC, δN), of seagrasses within the IRL relate to coverage.

Gene expression and growth as indicators of effects of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill on spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus).

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill has great potential to negatively affect estuarine fish populations. In order to assess possible impacts of this event, a series of sublethal lab experiments were performed, using the economically and ecologically important species spotted seatrout (Cynoscion nebulosus). Larval and juvenile spotted seatrout were exposed to sublethal concentrations of high energy water accommodated fraction (HEWAF), chemically enhanced water accommodated fraction (CEWAF), or dispersant alone in an acute exposure.