Mitigating harmful cyanobacterial blooms: strategies for control of nitrogen and phosphorus loads

Abstract

Harmful blooms of cyanobacteria (Cya-noHABs) have increased globally and cyanotoxins associated with some CyanoHAB species pose serious health risks for animals and humans. CyanoHABs are sensitive to supply rates of both nitrogen and phosphorus, but sensitivity may vary among species (e.g., between diazotrophic and nondiazotrophic species) and a range of physiographic and environmental factors. A sustainable approach to manage CyanoHABs is therefore to limit the supply of nitrogen and phosphorus from catchments to receiving waters. Alternative approaches of within-lake treatment have increased risks and large capital and operational expenditure. The need to

Plankton dynamics across the freshwater, transitional and marine research sites of the LTER-Italy Network. Patterns, fluctuations, drivers

“…A few cases however were proposed, including, e.g., shifts of invertebrate predators in deep lakes (Manca and DeMott, 2009) and the appearance and range expansion of many thermophilic organisms in the Mediterranean Sea (Conversi et al, 2010;Occhipinti-Ambrogi and Galil, 2010;Corriero et al, 2016). In freshwater environments, besides the direct and indirect effects on biota, the increase of water temperature and changes in stratification patterns significantly affect biogeochemical cycles and nutrient inputs from the watershed, thus contributing to generate combined effects that are difficult to disentangle (Hamilton et al, 2016). As a matter of fact, most of the long-term changes in plankton communities identified in the marine and lacustrine sites were linked to nutrient loads and/or environmental drivers, indirectly connected to climate change and land and coastal zone use.…”

Food crops irrigated with cyanobacteria-contaminated water: an emerging public health issue in Canada

“…Flooding from increased precipitation (Trenberth, 2011) can increase terrestrial run-off, including sewage overflows into water bodies, thus increasing nutrient loads (Hamilton et al, 2016), driving cyanobacterial growth. Climate change is also implicated in the range expansion of cyanobacteria species (Pick, 2016); blooms and toxins that did not previously occur begin to appear where they were never before observed.…”

Genotypic variation and stability for nitrogen use efficiency in winter wheat

“…Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is among the most important food crops, with production exceeding 700 Tg yr −1 , accounting for roughly 20% of the total dietary calories and Crop Science have negative environmental consequences. This unused N can return to the atmosphere as unreactive N or N 2 O through denitrification (Galloway et al, 2004) or become subject to runoff and leaching, contributing to the degradation of aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems (Hamilton, Salmaso, & Paerl, 2016;Sinha, Michalak, & Balaji, 2017). Thus, the efficient use of N is critical to promote grower profitability and ensure environmentally sustainable increases in grain production.…”