Cyanobacterial bloom monitoring and assessment in Latin America

Cyanobacterial Harmful Algal Mats (CyanoHAMs) in tropical rivers of central Mexico and their potential risks through toxin production

“…Demonstrating that beyond responding to poor concentrations of nutrients, they can respond to larger scale and longer-term changes (Legleiter & Hodges, 2022 ). In this sense, our results contribute to the understanding of the ecology of proliferations in oligotrophic environments and the secondary metabolism related to toxin production (Aguilera et al, 2023 ; Reinl et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic organisms found in almost every aquatic environment on the planet. One of the evolutionary strategies that allows them to compete for resources with other aquatic organisms is the synthesis of secondary metabolites called cyanotoxins, which can damage the metabolism and functioning of all kinds of living beings, including humans (Aguilera et al, 2023 ; Almuhtaram et al, 2021 ; Massey et al, 2022 ). The presence of some species of cyanobacteria, particularly when in large quantities (blooms), could imply an environmental, ecological, and human health risk (Rider et al, 2024 ; Schulte et al, 2022 ).…”

“…The term is not exclusive to cyanobacteria, however, since it can refer to peaks of biomass or phytoplanktonic density (Frau, 2023 ). This leads to the term being widely used with different meanings, resulting in a definition that remains largely ambiguous (Aguilera et al, 2023 ). One of the relevant aspects in the massive growths of cyanobacteria is the production of secondary metabolites, of which more than 2000 have been characterized, including cyanotoxins (Jones et al, 2021 ).…”

“…As the main source of water for human activities comes from lentic environments, CyanoHABs have been a topic of great relevance (Almuhtaram et al, 2021 ; Massey et al, 2022 ; Quiblier et al, 2013 ). As a result, studies on cyanotoxins have been biased toward populations of planktonic cyanobacteria that inhabit lentic ecosystems (Aguilera et al, 2023 ; Almuhtaram et al, 2021 ). The cyanoHABs concept is almost always associated with populations of phytoplanktonic cyanobacteria in lakes and reservoirs, but riverbeds HABs being much less studied even though they have recently been recognized as important producers of toxins with effects on the food weber (Legleiter & Hodges, 2022 ; Rider et al, 2024 ).…”

“…Reports of massive growths and their relationship with toxicity and bioaccumulation events at higher trophic levels such as benthic macroinvertebrates (Shahmohamadloo et al, 2020 ) and fish (Zamora-Barrios et al, 2019 ) are becoming more frequent, as well as the poisoning of domestic animals such as dogs and cattle (livestock) (Bouma-Gregson et al, 2019 ; Echenique-Subiabre et al, 2016 ; Gaget et al, 2020 ). In a review focusing on Latin America, Aguilera et al, ( 2023 ) found that 295 blooms were reported in the literature in freshwater ecosystems between 2000 and 2019. These reports include rivers from 14 countries, and 67% of the cases report an association with the presence of cyanotoxins.…”