Citation:

Banerji, A. AND K. Benesh. Incorporating Microbial Species Interaction in Management of Freshwater Toxic Cyanobacteria: A Systems Science Challenge. AQUATIC ECOLOGY. Springer, New York, NY, , 570-587, (2022). https://doi.org/10.3390/ecologies3040042

Impact/Purpose:

This review identifies pertinent examples of freshwater aquatic microbes known to facilitate toxic cyanobacteria or pose their own separate threats to human health and the environment. It elucidates how knowledge of their community ecological interactions can be applied to circumvent adverse outcomes and enhance the effectiveness of aquatic resource management. This would be of interest primarily to academics, water-monitoring agencies, and water treatment plant operators.

Description:

Water resources are critically important but also pose risks of exposure to toxic and pathogenic microbes. Increasingly a concern are toxic cyanobacteria, which have been linked to the death and disease of humans, domesticated animals, and wildlife in freshwater systems worldwide. Management approaches successful at reducing cyanobacterial abundance and toxin production have tended to be short-term solutions applied on small scales (e.g., algaecide application) or solutions that entail difficult multifaceted investments (e.g., modification of landscape and land use to reduce nutrient inputs). However, implementation of these approaches can be undermined by microbial species interactions that (a) provide toxic cyanobacteria with protection against the method of control or (b) permit toxic cyanobacteria to be replaced by other significant microbial threats. Understanding these interactions is necessary to avoid such scenarios and can provide a framework for novel holistic strategies that enhance freshwater resource management. Here we review pertinent examples of the interactions, highlight potential applications of what is known, and elucidate the state of the science of such applications.

URLs/Downloads:

Record Details: