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Could the presence of larger fractions of non-cyanobacterial species be used as a predictor of microcystin production under variable nutrient regimes?

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Abstract

The occurrence of cyanobacteria and microcystin is highly dynamic in natural environments and poses one of the biggest challenges to water resource management. While a number of drivers are known to be responsible for the occurrence of cyanobacterial blooms, the drivers of microcystin production are not adequately known. This study aims to quantify the effects of the changes in the structures of phytoplankton and cyanobacterial communities on the dynamics of microcystin production under highly variable nutrient concentration. In our study, nutrient variability could explain 64 % of the variability in microcystin production. When changes in the fractions of non-cyanobacteria versus cyanobacteria genera were additionally included, 80 % of the variability in microcystin production could be explained; under high nutrient concentrations, non-cyanobacterial phytoplankton groups were dominant over cyanobacteria and cyanobacteria produced more toxins. In contrast, changes in the cyanobacterial community structures could only explain a further 4 % of the dynamics of microcystin production. As such, the dominance of non-cyanobacterial groups appears to be a useful factor to explain microcystin occurrence in addition to traditionally used factors such as absolute cyanobacterial cell numbers, especially when the nutrient regime is taken into account. This information could help to further refine the risk assessment frameworks which are currently used to manage the risk posed by cyanobacterial blooms.

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Acknowledgments

This project was funded by the Australian Research Council’s Linkage Project funding scheme (LP0776571) and the Water Corporation of Western Australia. We wish to thank the City of Cockburn and the City of Stirling for permission to sample the lakes, Professor Pierre Legendre, Laura Firth, and Kevin Murray for their valuable statistical advice, and Liah Coggins for her help in the editing of the manuscript. During the study, Sinang, S.C was supported by a scholarship from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI) and the Malaysian Government.

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  1. Som Cit Sinang

    Present address: Faculty of Science and Mathematics, Sultan Idris Education University, 35900, Tanjong Malim, Perak, Malaysia

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  1. Aquatic Ecology and Ecosystem Studies, School of Civil, Environmental, and Mining Engineering, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, M015, Crawley, WA, 6009, Australia

    Som Cit Sinang, Elke S. Reichwaldt & Anas Ghadouani

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  1. Som Cit Sinang
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Sinang, S.C., Reichwaldt, E.S. & Ghadouani, A. Could the presence of larger fractions of non-cyanobacterial species be used as a predictor of microcystin production under variable nutrient regimes?. Environ Monit Assess 187, 476 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4695-z

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