Cyanobacterial (blue-green algae) impact lakes and reservoirs worldwide.  While a large body of research has focused on the ecology, monitoring, and management of cyanobacteria, this information is relatively diffuse and not readily available in one central location.  To address this problem, the North American Lake Management Society has developed this website that will help to serve as a clearinghouse of cyanobacterial related information and resources for water resource managers and state, federal, and university scientists.  For more information about NALMS activities related to cyanobacteria see Graham et al. (Lakeline, Summer 2009, pp. 14-17).

General information related to cyanobacteria is presented below.  Also, click on the right hand side of the page for additional information. 

Basic Information on Cyanobacteria

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms have been occurring throughout the world for thousands of years. Cyanobacteria produce a number of nuisance compounds, including those that are toxic or cause severe taste-and-odor problems in drinking water supplies. Cyanobacterial toxins can make drinking water and recreational use of water unsafe. Animals die yearly as a result of cyanotoxins, and though human death is not common, many people experience symptoms indicative of cyanotoxin exposure. Very little is known about the long-term side affects of ingestion of cyanotoxins, so although there is a guideline set by WHO for safe concentrations, minimal concentrations could cause an effect over time.

Conditions affecting blooms

Nutrient Availability: Nutrients are a limiting factor for cyanobacteria populations. As long as the correct nutrients are in excess, they can grow until some other factor, often light or temperature, becomes limiting.

Competition: Ability to adapt to the environment is a big factors determining whether a bloom will form. Many blue-greens are less edible, have gas vacuoles that help them float, can sequester nutrients at the sediment water interface, or can fix dissolved nitrogen, any of which can give them a competitive advantage over other algae and lead to bloom formation.

Light Intensity: Since cyanobacteria are phytoplankton, light is important and different species thrive under different light intensities. If light is not extinguished by particles or color in the water, a bloom is more likely. Many blue-greens thrive under low light, and so may be favored unless light is nearly absent (such as in some high particulate reservoir systems).

Mixing: Mixing allows nutrients to be more evenly distributed and affects other aspects of water quality that in turn affect algal abundance and composition. Mixing can also move algae to depths with less light, limiting growth and survival. In general, blue-greens do better with less mixing (Cylindrospermopsis is one taxon that seems to do well in mixed systems, though).

Temperature: Surface water temperatures consistently above 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) encourage blue-green blooms, although blooms may still occur in late fall (October, November) in the Northern U.S.

Species: The above factors influence different species very differently, because each species or taxon has a unique way of dealing with their environment. There are generalizations that apply to blooms and blue-green dominance, but there are exceptions in most cases. Algal bloom formation is a complicated ecological process.

Toxicity: Not all blue-greens are toxic, so while risk may be higher during a bloom, high biomass does not necessarily result in toxicity. Also, although many toxin producing algae produce taste and odor compounds, the presence or absence of geosmin or MIB is not a predictor of the presence of toxins.

Cyanotoxins and Taste/Odor Compounds

Major Classes of Toxins:

Hepatotoxins

• microcystin
• cylindrospermopsin

Neurotoxins

• anatoxin
• saxitoxin

Dermatotoxins - Lyngbyatoxin
BMAA - beta-n-methylamino-L-alanine

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Although there are about 50 toxigenic algal taxa, most fall into one of a handful of genera.

Geosmin

MIB (2-methylisoborneol)

Toxin and Taste-and-Odor Producing Cyanobacteria (list is not exhaustive)

[LYN, lyngbyatoxin-a; APL, aplysiatoxins; LPS, lipopolysaccharides; CYL, cylindrospermopsins; MC, microcystins; NOD, nodularins; ANA, anatoxins; BMAA, β-N-methylamino-L-alanine; NEO, neosaxitoxins; SAX, saxitoxins; GEOS, geosmin; MIB, 2-methylisoborneol]

Table courtesy of Jennifer Graham, USGS

World Health Organization

• WHO Fact Sheet on Drinking Water Limit of Microcystin, Cyanobacterial Toxins

Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality

• Surface Water Monitoring and Assessment

California Division of Drinking Water and Environmental Management

• Information about Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria) Blooms

Oregon DHS Harmful Algae Bloom Surveillance

• Blue-green Algae Advisories

Iowa DNR/DPH Beach monitoring Program

• Blue-green Algae Sampling Results

Florida DEH Aquatic Toxins Program

• Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria)

Health Canada

• Blue-Green Algae (Cyanobacteria) and their Toxins

Prymnesium parvum. A toxic Haptophyte

Pyrmnesium is primarily an issue for fisheries. It acts on exposed cells such as gill tissue and has not been linked directly with human or mammalian illness or death.

U.S. EPA

• CyanoHAB Search: A list of Toxic Cyanobacteria References
• Toxicological Reviews of Cyanobacterial Toxins: Anatoxin-a, Cylindrospermopsin and Microcystins (LR, RR, YR and LA)

NOAA

• NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab - Information on Harmful Algal Blooms
• NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Lab - Center for Excellence for Great Lakes and Human Health

USGS

• USGS Cyanobacterial Research

World Health Organization

• WHO Report: Toxic cyanobacteria in water: A guide to their public health consequences, monitoring and management

Links to Various Other Toxic Algal Sites

• http://www.phycotech.com/AlgaeTaxLinks.htm#Toxic