Environmental drivers of phytoplankton with focus on potentially toxic cyanobacteria in a shallow lake used as drinking water source: Sauce Lake, Maldonado, Uruguay

Authors

  • Lucía González-Madina Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario de la Región Este (CURE), Universidad de la República
  • Juan Pablo Pacheco Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario de la Región Este (CURE), Universidad de la República
  • Néstor Mazzeo Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario de la Región Este (CURE), Universidad de la República.Instituto SARAS.Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República.
  • Paula Levrini Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario de la Región Este (CURE), Universidad de la República.
  • Juan María Clemente Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario de la Región Este (CURE), Universidad de la República.
  • Juan José Lagomarsino Área Hidrobiología de la Gerencia de Gestión de Laboratorios, Obras Sanitarias del Estado, OSE-UGD.
  • Claudia Fosalba Departamento de Ecología y Gestión Ambiental, Centro Universitario de la Región Este (CURE), Universidad de la República.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.26461/13.03

Keywords:

Harmful Algal blooms, phytoplankton composition, biomonitoring, drinking water supply

Abstract

Sauce Lake, the main drinking water source in Maldonado, Uruguay, has been registering recurring events of potentially toxic cyanobacterial blooms that affect its service. This leads to the necessity of exploring the environmental drivers in the composition of phytoplankton, particularly in the presence of potentially toxic cyanobacteria. In this study we analyzed the environmental factors associated with phytoplankton composition and biomass, particularly of cyanobacteria. We sampled physicochemical variables, nutrients and phytoplankton during the summer 2015-2016 with a weekly frequency, in six sites of Sauce Lake. The results show a very high temporal and spatial variability in the phytoplankton composition, with cyanobacterial algal blooms of different taxa: Dolichospermum crassum, Cuspidothrix issatschenkoi, Microcystis aeruginosa, Microcystis panniformis y Sphaerocavum brasiliense. We observed that turbidity is a key factor controlling the total phytoplankton biomass, while the NT vs. PO4 concentrations determined the differential presence of potentially toxic cyanobacteria. The analysis of the relationship between these nutrients could contribute to anticipate different cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms in this ecosystem, enabling the development of management tools oriented to decrease its negative effects, particularly in the purification process.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Downloads

Published

2017-06-21

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Environmental drivers of phytoplankton with focus on potentially toxic cyanobacteria in a shallow lake used as drinking water source: Sauce Lake, Maldonado, Uruguay. (2017). INNOTEC, 13 ene-jun, 26-35. https://doi.org/10.26461/13.03

Most read articles by the same author(s)