scholarly journals Legacy Phosphorus in Lake Okeechobee (Florida, USA) Sediments: A Review and New Perspective

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 39
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Missimer ◽  
Serge Thomas ◽  
Barry H. Rosen
Keyword(s):  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Sediment Resuspension ◽  
Eutrophic Lake ◽  
The United States ◽  
Nutrient Ratios ◽  
Lake Okeechobee ◽  
Organic Sediment ◽  
Legacy Nutrients ◽  
New Perspective

Lake Okeechobee is one of the largest freshwater lakes in the United States. As a eutrophic lake, it has frequent algal blooms composed predominantly of the cyanobacterium genus Microcystis. Many of the algal blooms are associated with the resuspension of a thixotropic benthic mud containing legacy nutrients. Since Lake Okeechobee has an area of 1732 km2 (40–50 km radius) and a mean depth of only 2.7 m, there is sufficient fetch and shallow water depth to allow frequent wind, wave, and current generated events, which cause sediment resuspension. Three types of mud exist in the lake including an immobile dark-colored, consolidated mud, a brownish-colored mud, which is poorly consolidated and mobile, and a dark-colored thixotropic, highly mobile mud that is a mixture of organic matter and clay-sized minerals. Altogether, these muds contain an estimated 4.6 × 106 kg of total phosphorus and commensurate high amounts of labile nitrogen. The thixotropic mud covers most of the lakebed and contains the suitable nutrient ratios to trigger algal blooms. A bioassay analysis of the thixotropic mud compared to the consolidated mud showed that it produced up to 50% more nutrient mass compared to the consolidated mud. The thixotropic mud does not consolidate, thus remains mobile. The mobility is maintained by the dynamics of the algal blooms and bacterial decay of extracellular secretions (transparent exopolymer particles) that bind sediment, transfer it to the bottom, and undergo bacterial digestion causing gas emissions, thus maintaining the organic/sediment matrix in suspension. Despite major efforts to control external nutrient loading into the lake, the high frequency of algal blooms will continue until the muds bearing legacy nutrients are removed from the lake.

scholarly journals Outsized nutrient contributions from small tributaries to a Great Lake

2020 ◽  
Vol 117 (45) ◽  
pp. 28175-28182
Author(s):  
Robert J. Mooney ◽  
Emily H. Stanley ◽  
William C. Rosenthal ◽  
Peter C. Esselman ◽  
Anthony D. Kendall ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Lake Michigan ◽  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Nutrient Loads ◽  
Nutrient Inputs ◽  
Small Streams ◽  
Large Water

Excessive nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) loading is one of the greatest threats to aquatic ecosystems in the Anthropocene, causing eutrophication of rivers, lakes, and marine coastlines worldwide. For lakes across the United States, eutrophication is driven largely by nonpoint nutrient sources from tributaries that drain surrounding watersheds. Decades of monitoring and regulatory efforts have paid little attention to small tributaries of large water bodies, despite their ubiquity and potential local importance. We used a snapshot of nutrient inputs from nearly all tributaries of Lake Michigan—the world’s fifth largest freshwater lake by volume—to determine how land cover and dams alter nutrient inputs across watershed sizes. Loads, concentrations, stoichiometry (N:P), and bioavailability (percentage dissolved inorganic nutrients) varied by orders of magnitude among tributaries, creating a mosaic of coastal nutrient inputs. The 6 largest of 235 tributaries accounted for ∼70% of the daily N and P delivered to Lake Michigan. However, small tributaries exhibited nutrient loads that were high for their size and biased toward dissolved inorganic forms. Higher bioavailability of nutrients from small watersheds suggests greater potential to fuel algal blooms in coastal areas, especially given the likelihood that their plumes become trapped and then overlap in the nearshore zone. Our findings reveal an underappreciated role that small streams may play in driving coastal eutrophication in large water bodies. Although they represent only a modest proportion of lake-wide loads, expanding nutrient management efforts to address smaller watersheds could reduce the ecological impacts of nutrient loading on valuable nearshore ecosystems.

scholarly journals Marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the United States: History, current status and future trends

Harmful Algae ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 101975
Author(s):  
Donald M. Anderson ◽  
Elizabeth Fensin ◽  
Christopher J. Gobler ◽  
Alicia E. Hoeglund ◽  
Katherine A. Hubbard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Harmful Algal Blooms ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
United States History ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Future Trends ◽  
States History

scholarly journals Agricultural Conservation Practices and Aquatic Ecological Responses

Water ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 1687
Author(s):  
Richard E. Lizotte ◽  
Peter C. Smiley ◽  
Robert B. Gillespie ◽  
Scott S. Knight
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Harmful Algal Blooms ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Soil Health ◽  
Conservation Agriculture ◽  
Agricultural Runoff ◽  
The United States ◽  
Ecosystem Structure ◽  
Ecological Responses ◽  
And Function

Conservation agriculture practices (CAs) have been internationally promoted and used for decades to enhance soil health and mitigate soil loss. An additional benefit of CAs has been mitigation of agricultural runoff impacts on aquatic ecosystems. Countries across the globe have agricultural agencies that provide programs for farmers to implement a variety of CAs. Increasingly there is a need to demonstrate that CAs can provide ecological improvements in aquatic ecosystems. Growing global concerns of lost habitat, biodiversity, and ecosystem services, increased eutrophication and associated harmful algal blooms are expected to intensify with increasing global populations and changing climate. We conducted a literature review identifying 88 studies linking CAs to aquatic ecological responses since 2000. Most studies were conducted in North America (78%), primarily the United States (73%), within the framework of the USDA Conservation Effects Assessment Project. Identified studies most frequently documented macroinvertebrate (31%), fish (28%), and algal (20%) responses to riparian (29%), wetland (18%), or combinations (32%) of CAs and/or responses to eutrophication (27%) and pesticide contamination (23%). Notable research gaps include better understanding of biogeochemistry with CAs, quantitative links between varying CAs and ecological responses, and linkages of CAs with aquatic ecosystem structure and function.

scholarly journals Occurrence of a single-species cyanobacterial bloom in a lake in Cyprus: monitoring and treatment with hydrogen peroxide-releasing granules

2021 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleni Keliri ◽  
Christia Paraskeva ◽  
Angelos Sofokleous ◽  
Assaf Sukenik ◽  
Dariusz Dziga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hydrogen Peroxide ◽  
Harmful Algal Blooms ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Animal Health ◽  
Cyanobacterial Bloom ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Eutrophic Lake ◽  
Liquid Hydrogen ◽  
Bioactive Metabolites ◽  
Forest Park

AbstractBackgroundExcess loads of nutrients finding their way into waterbodies can cause rapid and excessive growth of phytoplankton species and lead to the formation of cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyano-HABs). Toxic cyanobacteria produce a broad range of bioactive metabolites, some of which are known as cyanotoxins. These metabolites can negatively impact the ecosystem, and human and animal health, thus their presence needs to be closely monitored and mitigated. This study aimed to monitor St. George Lake (Athalassa National Forest Park, Cyprus) for its water quality characteristics, and initiate a new methodology to control the bloom that occurred in the lake during summer 2019, by comparing hydrogen peroxide treatment with novel metallic peroxide granules as source of hydrogen peroxide.ResultsLake monitoring showed that pH, salinity, total dissolved solids and conductivity varied throughout the year, and nutrients concentration was high, indicating a eutrophic lake. The cyanobacteriumMerismopediasp. bloomed in the lake between June and September 2019, comprising up to 99% of the phytoplankton biovolume. The presence of microcystin synthase encoding gene (mcyB, mcyE) was documented, however microcystins were not detected by tandem mass spectroscopy. Treatment with liquid hydrogen peroxide in concentrations 1 to 5 mg L−1had no effect on the phycocyanin fluorescence (Ft) and quantum yield of PSII (Fv/Fm) indicating an ineffective treatment for the denseMerismopediabloom (1 million cells mL−1 ± 20%). Metallic peroxide granules tested for their H2O2releasing capacity in St. George Lake water, showing that CaO2released higher H2O2concentration and therefore have better mitigation efficiency than MgO2granules.ConclusionThe present study highlights the importance of monitoring several water parameters to conclude on the different actions to be taken to limit eutrophication in the catchment area. The findings demonstrated that testing for the presence of genes involved in cyanotoxin production may not be sufficient to follow cyanotoxins in the water, therefore it should be accompanied with analytical confirmation. Treatment experiments indicated that slow release of H2O2from peroxide granules may be an alternative to liquid hydrogen peroxide when applied in appropriate doses, but further investigation is needed before it is applied at the field.Graphic Abstract

INTEGRATING NANOSCALE ZERO-VALENT IRON AND TITANIUM DIOXIDE FOR NUTRIENT REMOVAL IN STORMWATER SYSTEMS

NANO ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 03 (04) ◽  
pp. 297-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
NI-BIN CHANG ◽  
MARTY WANIELISTA ◽  
FAHIM HOSSAIN ◽  
LEI ZHAI ◽  
KUEN-SONG LIN
Keyword(s):  
Titanium Dioxide ◽  
Water Reuse ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Chemical Reduction ◽  
Nitrate Removal ◽  
Packed Bed ◽  
The United States ◽  
Zero Valent Iron ◽  
Nanoscale Zero Valent Iron ◽  
Freshwater Bodies

Nutrients, such as nitrate, nitrite, and phosphorus, are common contaminants in many aquatic systems in the United States. Ammonia and nitrate are both regulated by the drinking water standards in the US primarily because excess levels of nitrate might cause methemoglobinemia. Phosphorus might become sources of the eutrophication problems associated with toxic algae in the freshwater bodies. Toxic algal blooms can cause severe acute and chronic public health problems. Chemical reduction of nitrate by using zero-valent iron started as early as 1964, and considerable research reports relating to this technology to nanomaterial were extensively reported in 1990s making the use of nanoscale zero-valent iron (NZVI) particles for nitrate removal become one of the most popular technologies in this field. The purpose of the present study was to examine the potential of integrating green sorption media, such as sawdust, limestone, tire crumb, and sand/silt, with two types of nanoparticles, including NZVI and Titanium Dioxide ( TiO 2), for nitrate removal in an engineering process. The study consists of running packed bed column tests followed by the addition of NZVI and TiO 2 to improve nitrate and phosphorus removal efficiency. Preliminary results in this paper show that the potential and advanced study may support the creation of design criteria of stormwater and groundwater treatment systems for water reuse in the future.

Impact of nutrient loading on phytoplankton: a mesocosm experiment in the eutrophic Lake Taihu, China

Hydrobiologia ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 829 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanqing Ding ◽  
Hai Xu ◽  
Jianming Deng ◽  
Boqiang Qin ◽  
Youwen He
Keyword(s):  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Lake Taihu ◽  
Eutrophic Lake ◽  
Mesocosm Experiment

STUDY OF AMINO ACID MODIFIERS IN GUAYULE NATURAL RUBBER

2015 ◽  
Vol 88 (2) ◽  
pp. 310-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen McMahan ◽  
Dhondup Lhamo
Keyword(s):  
Amino Acids ◽  
Natural Rubber ◽  
Oxidative Stability ◽  
Chemical Properties ◽  
The United States ◽  
Thermal Oxidative Stability ◽  
Green Strength ◽  
Strain Induced Crystallization ◽  
New Perspective ◽  
Physical And Chemical

ABSTRACT Guayule, a desert shrub indigenous to the United States, is under development as a source of natural rubber that can be used in place of petroleum-based rubber or Hevea rubber. In natural rubbers, physical and chemical properties can be strongly affected by nonrubber constituents, typically proteins and lipids, present in the material, depending on the plant species and postharvest processing. Hevea natural rubber typically contains high levels of nonrubber constituents that contribute to thermal-oxidative stability, cure acceleration, and especially strain-induced crystallization. The latter has been attributed to compound properties that render Hevea natural rubber uniquely suited for the most demanding rubber applications (e.g., aircraft tires). Hevea proteins are susceptible to hydrolysis, releasing free amino acids into the latex, which can affect rubber and compound properties. Here, low-protein guayule latex was blended with a series of amino acids varying in chemical structure. Bulk viscosity was reduced, thermal-oxidative stability was improved, and cure rate was influenced by the addition of amino acids. Generally, gel formation, green strength, and tensile strength were not affected. The results introduce a new perspective for amino acids as biobased rubber compound additives and provide insights into naturally occurring nonrubber constituents' interaction with natural rubber polymers.

scholarly journals Earth observation for monitoring and mapping of cyanobacteria blooms. Case studies on five Italian lakes

2016 ◽  
Vol 76 (s1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariano Bresciani ◽  
Claudia Giardino ◽  
Rosaria Lauceri ◽  
Erica Matta ◽  
Ilaria Cazzaniga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Remote Sensing Data ◽  
Late Summer ◽  
Eutrophic Lake ◽  
Cyanobacterial Blooms ◽  
Landsat 8 ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Eutrophic Lakes ◽  
Chl A

Cyanobacterial blooms occur in many parts of the world as a result of entirely natural causes or human activity. Due to their negative effects on water resources, efforts are made to monitor cyanobacteria dynamics. This study discusses the contribution of remote sensing methods for mapping cyanobacterial blooms in lakes in northern Italy. Semi-empirical approaches were used to flag scum and cyanobacteria and spectral inversion of bio-optical models was adopted to retrieve chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations. Landsat-8 OLI data provided us both the spatial distribution of Chl-a concentrations in a small eutrophic lake and the patchy distribution of scum in Lake Como. ENVISAT MERIS time series collected from 2003 to 2011 enabled the identification of dates when cyanobacterial blooms affected water quality in three small meso-eutrophic lakes in the same region. On average, algal blooms occurred in the three lakes for about 5 days a year, typically in late summer and early autumn. A suite of hyperspectral sensors on air- and space-borne platforms was used to map Chl-a concentrations in the productive waters of the Mantua lakes, finding values in the range of 20 to 100 mgm-3. The present findings were obtained by applying state of the art of methods applied to remote sensing data. Further research will focus on improving the accuracy of cyanobacteria mapping and adapting the algorithms to the new-generation of satellite sensors.

A review on acoustic methods of algal growth control by ultrasonication through existing and novel emerging technologies

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aditi Mullick ◽  
Sudarsan Neogi
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Algal Blooms ◽  
Nutrient Loading ◽  
Algal Growth ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Operating Conditions ◽  
Process Efficiency ◽  
Industrial Water ◽  
Algal Toxins ◽  
Algae Growth

AbstractThe uncontrolled proliferation of algae and algal blooms due to excessive nutrient loading in natural and industrial water bodies is a major issue for water quality maintenance. It reduces usability of the water, imposes hazardous effects of algal toxins released from algal blooms, and creates nuisance in the operation of several industrial water units. Among several existing water treatment methods to diminish the post-algae growth effects, ultrasonication has emerged as an environmentally safe technology that does not involve any use of algaecide. The interaction of several parameters, including climatic and environmental conditions with algae growth rate, have been reviewed in this article. The effects of different acoustic operating conditions for inhibition of algae growth have also been discussed. Concern about high energy consumption led other technologies to be integrated with ultrasonication. It has enhanced the process efficiency and reduced the energy consumption as reported in some long-term field investigations and patent proposals. Several issues that require further research for making this technology widely applicable or to install an effective system design have been highlighted in this article.

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