Cyanobacteria species dominance and diversity in three Australian drinking water reservoirs

• Published in: Hydrobiologia Vol. 849; no. 6; pp. 1453 - 1469
• Main Authors: Rousso, Benny Zuse, Bertone, Edoardo, Stewart, Rodney A., Hughes, Sara P., Hobson, Peter, Hamilton, David P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.03.2022; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: autumn; Biological monitoring; Biomass; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Cells; Cyanobacteria; Decision making; Dolichospermum; Dominance; Drinking water; Ecology; Freshwater & Marine Ecology; Lakes; Life Sciences; Low concentrations; Microcystis; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; Primary Research Paper; Quality control; Queensland; Raphidiopsis; Reservoirs; South Australia; Species; Species diversity; spring; subtropics; total nitrogen; total phosphorus; Water monitoring; Water quality; Water quality management; Water reservoirs; Water supply; World Health Organization; Zoology; Australia; South Australia Australia; Queensland; South Australia; Phytoplankton succession; Water resources management; CyanoHAB; Diversity
• ISSN: 0018-8158; 1573-5117
• DOI: 10.1007/s10750-021-04794-5

The objective of this study was to identify correlations between environmental variables and cyanobacterial diversity, succession and dominance in three Australian water supply reservoirs. We assessed up to 15 years of in-lake water quality monitoring data from Lake Wivenhoe and Lake Tingalpa (Queensland), and Lake Myponga (South Australia). Lakes Wivenhoe and Tingalpa, subject to a subtropical climate, had higher cyanobacterial richness than Lake Myponga in temperate South Australia. Richness in the subtropical lakes was positively correlated ( P  < 0.05) with total cyanobacteria biomass, and cyanobacteria biovolume > 0.03 mm 3 /l (Alert level 1; World Health Organization) was often composed of multiple cyanobacteria species. Peaks in total cyanobacteria biomass and diversity occurred in all three lakes from late spring to early autumn. Unicellular picocyanobacterial dominance was negatively correlated ( P  < 0.05) with total nitrogen while dominance of colonial and filamentous species with larger cells (e.g. Microcystis spp., Raphidiopsis spp., Dolichospermum circinale ) was positively correlated ( P  < 0.05) with total phosphorus. Among the species with larger cells, diazotrophic D. circinale often dominated when total nitrogen was at low concentrations. Our results support decision making for selecting cyanoHAB control strategies based on single- or multi-species dominance and reinforce that new monitoring technologies could support species-level assessments.