Limnology and Oceanography Letters (Aug 2023)

Blooms also like it cold

  • Kaitlin L. Reinl,
  • Ted D. Harris,
  • Rebecca L. North,
  • Pablo Almela,
  • Stella A. Berger,
  • Mina Bizic,
  • Sarah H. Burnet,
  • Hans‐Peter Grossart,
  • Bastiaan W Ibelings,
  • Ellinor Jakobsson,
  • Lesley B. Knoll,
  • Brenda M. Lafrancois,
  • Yvonne McElarney,
  • Ana M. Morales‐Williams,
  • Ulrike Obertegger,
  • Igor Ogashawara,
  • Ma Cristina Paule‐Mercado,
  • Benjamin L. Peierls,
  • James A. Rusak,
  • Siddhartha Sarkar,
  • Sapna Sharma,
  • Jessica V. Trout‐Haney,
  • Pablo Urrutia‐Cordero,
  • Jason J. Venkiteswaran,
  • Danielle J. Wain,
  • Katelynn Warner,
  • Gesa A. Weyhenmeyer,
  • Kiyoko Yokota

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/lol2.10316
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 8, no. 4
pp. 546 – 564

Abstract

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Abstract Cyanobacterial blooms have substantial direct and indirect negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems including releasing toxins, blocking light needed by other organisms, and depleting oxygen. There is growing concern over the potential for climate change to promote cyanobacterial blooms, as the positive effects of increasing lake surface temperature on cyanobacterial growth are well documented in the literature; however, there is increasing evidence that cyanobacterial blooms are also being initiated and persisting in relatively cold‐water temperatures (< 15°C), including ice‐covered conditions. In this work, we provide evidence of freshwater cold‐water cyanobacterial blooms, review abiotic drivers and physiological adaptations leading to these blooms, offer a typology of these lesser‐studied cold‐water cyanobacterial blooms, and discuss their occurrence under changing climate conditions.