Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment

Physiological and ecological characteristics in the life cycle of bloom-forming cyanobacteria

Author(s):

Xiao Tan ^{1, 2}

Recieved Date: 2012-01-08, Accepted Date: 2012-04-29

Abstract:

Freshwater lakes provide water sources for drinking, aquaculture, agricultural irrigation and so on, but many eutrophic lakes around the world are suffered by cyanobacterial blooms. These harmful cyanobacteria (such as Microcytis, Anabaena, Aphnizomenon and so on) are capable of nuisance growth and producing toxins, which pose serious threats to water safety and human health. Based on most of the literature, this paper reviewed the progress made in following fields: physiological and ecological characteristics of bloom-forming cyanobacteria in their annual life cycle, internal regulation mechanisms and environmental factors for blooms formation. In winter, dormant period is regarded as the continuation of cyanobacteria populations, which conserve “seed bank” for the following year. In spring, recruitment can be defined as an inoculation of overwintering cyanobacteria to the pelagic phase after growth recovery under suitable conditions. Temperature, resuspension and bioturbation had been recognized to be the main driving factors for recruitment. Shortly after recruitment, cyanobacteria establish dominance by fast growth rate (i.e. r-type ecological strategy) and colony enlargement. Under suitable meteorological and hydrological conditions, cyanobacterial colonies aggregate and float up to form heavy blooms, which can lead to water supply crisis and ecological disaster. From late autumn, blooms disaggregate and decline. The sinking process is not only a periodic life cycle but also an irregular mechanical movement. Cyanobacteria accumulation areas in late autumn might highly related to the first occurence of blooms in the following year. The time series of bloom-forming cyanobacteria in lakes of temperate and subtropical zones could be summarized as the four-stage hypothesis, but the spatial patterns of blooms in large lakes were rarely explored. Moreover, further studies are needed to explore the threshold values of environmental factors at each stage, and compare the ecophysiological differences between cyanobacteria and other algae, which could provide valuable information for the prediction and prevention of harmful blooms, so as to establish a sound and stable lacustrine ecosystem. 

Keywords:

Eutrophication, Taihu, blooms, cyanobacteria, ecophysiological characteristics, overwintering, recruitment, competitive growth, floating, aggregation, sedimentation

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Journal: Journal of Food, Agriculture and Environment
Year: 2012
Volume: 10
Issue: 2
Category: Environment
Pages: 929-934

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