Data Descriptor : A European Multi Lake Survey dataset of environmental variables, phytoplankton pigments and cyanotoxins

Under ongoing climate change and increasing anthropogenic activity, which continuously challenge ecosystem resilience, an in-depth understanding of ecological processes is urgently needed. Lakes, as providers of numerous ecosystem services, face multiple stressors that threaten their functioning. Harmful cyanobacterial blooms are a persistent problem resulting from nutrient pollution and climate-change induced stressors, like poor transparency, increased water temperature and enhanced stratification. Consistency in data collection and analysis methods is necessary to achieve fully comparable datasets and for statistical validity, avoiding issues linked to disparate data sources. The European Multi Lake Survey (EMLS) in summer 2015 was an initiative among scientists from 27 countries to collect and analyse lake physical, chemical and biological variables in a fully standardized manner. This database includes in-situ lake variables along with nutrient, pigment and cyanotoxin data of 369 lakes in Europe, which were centrally analysed in dedicated laboratories. Publishing the EMLS methods and dataset might inspire similar initiatives to study across large geographic areas that will contribute to better understanding lake responses in a changing environment.Peer reviewe

Temperature Effects Explain Continental Scale Distribution of Cyanobacterial Toxins

Insight into how environmental change determines the production and distribution of cyanobacterial toxins is necessary for risk assessment. Management guidelines currently focus on hepatotoxins (microcystins). Increasing attention is given to other classes, such as neurotoxins (e.g., anatoxin-a) and cytotoxins (e.g., cylindrospermopsin) due to their potency. Most studies examine the relationship between individual toxin variants and environmental factors, such as nutrients, temperature and light. In summer 2015, we collected samples across Europe to investigate the effect of nutrient and temperature gradients on the variability of toxin production at a continental scale. Direct and indirect effects of temperature were the main drivers of the spatial distribution in the toxins produced by the cyanobacterial community, the toxin concentrations and toxin quota. Generalized linear models showed that a Toxin Diversity Index (TDI) increased with latitude, while it decreased with water stability. Increases in TDI were explained through a significant increase in toxin variants such as MC-YR, anatoxin and cylindrospermopsin, accompanied by a decreasing presence of MC-LR. While global warming continues, the direct and indirect effects of increased lake temperatures will drive changes in the distribution of cyanobacterial toxins in Europe, potentially promoting selection of a few highly toxic species or strains.Peer reviewe

Stratification strength and light climate explain variation in chlorophyll a at the continental scale in a European multilake survey in a heatwave summer

To determine the drivers of phytoplankton biomass, we collected standardized morphometric, physical, and biological data in 230 lakes across the Mediterranean, Continental, and Boreal climatic zones of the European continent. Multilinear regression models tested on this snapshot of mostly eutrophic lakes (median total phosphorus [TP] = 0.06 and total nitrogen [TN] = 0.7 mg L−1), and its subsets (2 depth types and 3 climatic zones), show that light climate and stratification strength were the most significant explanatory variables for chlorophyll a (Chl a) variance. TN was a significant predictor for phytoplankton biomass for shallow and continental lakes, while TP never appeared as an explanatory variable, suggesting that under high TP, light, which partially controls stratification strength, becomes limiting for phytoplankton development. Mediterranean lakes were the warmest yet most weakly stratified and had significantly less Chl a than Boreal lakes, where the temperature anomaly from the long-term average, during a summer heatwave was the highest (+4°C) and showed a significant, exponential relationship with stratification strength. This European survey represents a summer snapshot of phytoplankton biomass and its drivers, and lends support that light and stratification metrics, which are both affected by climate change, are better predictors for phytoplankton biomass in nutrient-rich lakes than nutrient concentrations and surface temperature

Metody stosowane w kontroli zakwitów cyjanobakterii w płytkich zbiornikach wodnych

The eutrophication of freshwaters – including shallow lakes – has become a global problem in the 21st century. Cyanobacterial blooms belong to the most frequent effects of this phenomenon. Although the problem, as well as methods for control it, are known since the beginning of the last century, in the last 25 years we can observe an increasing number of publications concerning methods of bloom control. The paper gives a review of different methods (chemical, physical and biological) applied in cyanobacterial bloom control in shallow lake ecosystems, taking into account not only the effectiveness of the methods but also their impact on other water biocenoses.Jednym z globalnych problemów XXI w. jest eutrofizacja wód śródlądowych, w tym płytkich jezior, której częstym efektem są zakwity cyjanobakterii planktonowych. Problem zakwitów sinic znany jest co najmniej od początku poprzedniego stulecia, podobnie jak i sposoby walki z tym negatywnym zjawiskiem, jednak to w ciągu ostatnich 25 lat, wraz z rozwojem ekologii płytkich jezior, daje się zauważyć wzrost liczby publikacji na temat nowych metod kontroli zakwitów. W artykule przedstawiono przegląd różnorodnych (chemicznych, fizycznych i biologicznych), aktualnie stosowanych metod ograniczania nadmiernego rozwoju cyjanobakterii w płytkich zbiornikach wodnych uwzględniając zarówno ich skuteczność, jak i wpływ na inne biocenozy wodne

Long-term changes in phytoplankton in a humic lake in response to the water level rising: the effects of beaver engineering on a freshwater ecosystem

Although water level changes are supposed to be a key factor affecting the functioning of lake ecosystems, knowledge on this topic is scarce, particularly for humic lakes. This paper presents the results of 18 years’ research on a small humic lake exposed to hydrological change (rising of the water level), which was induced by spontaneous colonization of the lake by the European beaver (Castor fiber L.). We put forward a hypothesis that this change will be reflected in the quantity and structure of summer phytoplankton due to expected changes in the water chemistry. We noted a statistically significant decrease in total phosphorus and calcium concentrations, electrolytic conductivity, and Secchi disc transparency, and an increase in water color. The phytoplankton structure changed, with cyanoprocaryota and greens decreasing and flagellates increasing. The alteration was observed in a lake which had previously been drained by ditches, so beaver damming appeared to cause the return of the lake to its original endorheic conditions as well as to a water chemistry and phytoplankton structure more typical of undisturbed humic lakes

Long-term changes in phytoplankton in a humic lake in response to the water level rising: the effects of beaver engineering on a freshwater ecosystem

Although water level changes are supposed to be a key factor affecting the functioning of lake ecosystems, knowledge on this topic is scarce, particularly for humic lakes. This paper presents the results of 18 years’ research on a small humic lake exposed to hydrological change (rising of the water level), which was induced by spontaneous colonization of the lake by the European beaver (Castor fiber L.). We put forward a hypothesis that this change will be reflected in the quantity and structure of summer phytoplankton due to expected changes in the water chemistry. We noted a statistically significant decrease in total phosphorus and calcium concentrations, electrolytic conductivity, and Secchi disc transparency, and an increase in water color. The phytoplankton structure changed, with cyanoprocaryota and greens decreasing and flagellates increasing. The alteration was observed in a lake which had previously been drained by ditches, so beaver damming appeared to cause the return of the lake to its original endorheic conditions as well as to a water chemistry and phytoplankton structure more typical of undisturbed humic lakes

The influence of barley straw extract addition on the growth of duckweed (

Due to its ability to forming dense mats in small waterbodies, duckweeds are often considered as nuisance plants in some freshwaters. Up to now, few techniques had been tested aiming towards managing duckweeds, but all of them had appeared to have some disadvantages. As an attempt to find a new effective management tool, a laboratory experiment assessing the influence of barley straw (BS) extract addition – a substance used in algal bloom control, upon the growth of the duckweed Lemna valdiviana, was performed. Reaction on two various concentrations of BS extract were quantified by measurements of changes in duckweed biomass and root length. The results showed that plants which have received the extract increased their biomass slower than that of the control, however only those with the addition of smaller amounts of BS differed significantly from the controls. Furthermore, BS addition stimulated the root growth in both experimental tanks. This implies that the mean roots length was higher, although the statistical differences were insignificant. As possible explanation for the observed changes we suggest that: (1) the growth inhibition of Lemna valvidiana under exposition to BS extract might be induced by an uptake of organic compounds from which some (phenolic substances) are (probably) toxic; (2) competitive interactions with the microbial communities developed upon the duckweed roots might play a role as well