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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 7(5)

Biogeochemistry and cyanobacterial blooms: investigating the relationship in a shallow, polymictic, temperate lake

Michael R. Grace A D , Todd R. Scicluna A , Chamindra L. Vithana A , Peter Symes B and Katrina P. Lansdown A C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A Water Studies Centre and School of Chemistry, Monash University, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia.

B Royal Botanic Gardens, South Yarra, VIC 3141, Australia.

C Present address: School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London,Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK.

D Corresponding author. Email: mike.grace@monash.edu

Environmental Chemistry 7(5) 443-456 https://doi.org/10.1071/EN10042
Submitted: 25 April 2010  Accepted: 27 August 2010   Published: 13 October 2010

Environmental context. Effective mitigation of algal blooms, and their associated detrimental impacts on flora and fauna, requires an understanding of the factors leading to bloom development, including nutrients, light and hydrodynamics. We investigated a shallow, freshwater lake and demonstrate that there is sufficient bioavailable phosphorus to annually generate a large algal biomass. Extensive, seasonal phosphorus release from sediments is controlled by the interactions of the biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, iron and sulfur.

Abstract. The shallow, polymictic Ornamental Lake in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Australia, has suffered significant blooms of toxic Anabaena then Microcystis species every summer over the last decade. Although the hydrodynamic conditions of the water column are conducive for algal growth, the prolific growth is controlled by the bioavailable phosphorus concentration. Springtime phosphorus fluxes of 0.1–0.2 mmol m–2 day–1 from the sediment contribute to bloom development. These rates are also observed in anoxic sediment core incubations. Diel stratification, combined with high oxygen consumption associated with organic carbon loading, favour P release. Release rates may be amplified by the effects of sulfate reduction on P sorption onto FeIII (oxyhydroxide) surfaces. Sulfate concentrations are at the threshold where methanogenesis is inhibited in anoxic conditions. Effective bloom mitigation will require a >100-fold reduction in P concentrations, which may be achieved through macrophyte planting and inducing greater water flow through the lake system.

Additional keywords: algal bloom, dissolved inorganic nitrogen, phosphorus mobilisation, sediment, sulfate reduction.


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