1
|
Wheeler C, Pearman JK, Howarth JD, Vandergoes MJ, Holt K, Trewick SA, Li X, Thompson L, Thomson-Laing G, Picard M, Moy C, Mckay NP, Moody A, Shepherd C, van den Bos V, Steiner K, Wood SA. A paleoecological investigation of recent cyanobacterial blooms and their drivers in two contrasting lakes. HARMFUL ALGAE 2024; 131:102563. [PMID: 38212085 DOI: 10.1016/j.hal.2023.102563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2023] [Revised: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
Cyanobacterial blooms are one of the most significant threats to global water security and freshwater biodiversity. Interactions among multiple stressors, including habitat degradation, species invasions, increased nutrient runoff, and climate change, are key drivers. However, assessing the role of anthropogenic activity on the onset of cyanobacterial blooms and exploring response variation amongst lakes of varying size and depth is usually limited by lack of historical records. In the present study we applied molecular, paleolimnological (trace metal, Itrax-µ-XRF and hyperspectral scanning, chronology), paleobotanical (pollen) and historical data to reconstruct cyanobacterial abundance and community composition and anthropogenic impacts in two dune lakes over a period of up to 1200 years. Metabarcoding and droplet digital PCR results showed very low levels of picocyanobacteria present in the lakes prior to about CE 1854 (1839-1870 CE) in the smaller shallow Lake Alice and CE 1970 (1963-1875 CE) in the larger deeper Lake Wiritoa. Hereafter bloom-forming cyanobacteria were detected and increased notably in abundance post CE 1984 (1982-1985 CE) in Lake Alice and CE 1997 (1990-2007 CE) in Lake Wiritoa. Currently, the magnitude of blooms is more pronounced in Lake Wiritoa, potentially attributable to hypoxia-induced release of phosphorus from sediment, introducing an additional source of nutrients. Generalized linear modelling was used to investigate the contribution of nutrients (proxy = bacterial functions), temperature, redox conditions (Mn:Fe), and erosion (Ti:Inc) in driving the abundance of cyanobacteria (ddPCR). In Lake Alice nutrients and erosion had a statistically significant effect, while in Lake Wiritoa nutrients and redox conditions were significant.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Caitlin Wheeler
- Massey University, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North 4410, Aotearoa, New Zealand
| | - John K Pearman
- Cawthron Institute, Private Bag 2 Aotearoa, Nelson 7042, New Zealand
| | - Jamie D Howarth
- School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Aotearoa, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| | | | - Katherine Holt
- Massey University, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North 4410, Aotearoa, New Zealand
| | - Steven A Trewick
- Massey University, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North 4410, Aotearoa, New Zealand
| | - Xun Li
- School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Aotearoa, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| | - Lucy Thompson
- Cawthron Institute, Private Bag 2 Aotearoa, Nelson 7042, New Zealand
| | | | - Mailys Picard
- Cawthron Institute, Private Bag 2 Aotearoa, Nelson 7042, New Zealand; Department of Ecology and Environmental Science, Umeå Universitet, Linnaeus väg 4-6, Umeå 907 36, Sweden
| | - Chris Moy
- Department of Geology, University of Otago, 360 Leith Street Aotearoa, North Dunedin, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Nicholas P Mckay
- School of Earth and Sustainability, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaf, AZ, United States
| | - Adelaine Moody
- School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600 Aotearoa, Wellington 6012, New Zealand
| | - Claire Shepherd
- GNS Science, 1 Fairway Drive Aotearoa, Avalon, Lower Hutt 5011, New Zealand
| | | | - Konstanze Steiner
- Cawthron Institute, Private Bag 2 Aotearoa, Nelson 7042, New Zealand
| | - Susanna A Wood
- Massey University, Tennent Drive, Palmerston North 4410, Aotearoa, New Zealand.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Eastwood N, Zhou J, Derelle R, Abdallah MAE, Stubbings WA, Jia Y, Crawford SE, Davidson TA, Colbourne JK, Creer S, Bik H, Hollert H, Orsini L. 100 years of anthropogenic impact causes changes in freshwater functional biodiversity. eLife 2023; 12:RP86576. [PMID: 37933221 PMCID: PMC10629823 DOI: 10.7554/elife.86576] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite efforts from scientists and regulators, biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate. Unless we find transformative solutions to preserve biodiversity, future generations may not be able to enjoy nature's services. We have developed a conceptual framework that establishes the links between biodiversity dynamics and abiotic change through time and space using artificial intelligence. Here, we apply this framework to a freshwater ecosystem with a known history of human impact and study 100 years of community-level biodiversity, climate change and chemical pollution trends. We apply explainable network models with multimodal learning to community-level functional biodiversity measured with multilocus metabarcoding, to establish correlations with biocides and climate change records. We observed that the freshwater community assemblage and functionality changed over time without returning to its original state, even if the lake partially recovered in recent times. Insecticides and fungicides, combined with extreme temperature events and precipitation, explained up to 90% of the functional biodiversity changes. The community-level biodiversity approach used here reliably explained freshwater ecosystem shifts. These shifts were not observed when using traditional quality indices (e.g. Trophic Diatom Index). Our study advocates the use of high-throughput systemic approaches on long-term trends over species-focused ecological surveys to identify the environmental factors that cause loss of biodiversity and disrupt ecosystem functions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Niamh Eastwood
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Jiarui Zhou
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Romain Derelle
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | | | - William A Stubbings
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
- School of Geography, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Yunlu Jia
- Department Evolutionary Ecology & Environmental Toxicology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University FrankfurtFrankfurtGermany
| | - Sarah E Crawford
- Department Evolutionary Ecology & Environmental Toxicology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University FrankfurtFrankfurtGermany
| | - Thomas A Davidson
- Lake Group, Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus UniversityAarhusDenmark
| | - John K Colbourne
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
| | - Simon Creer
- School of Natural Sciences, Environment Centre Wales, Deiniol Road, Bangor UniversityBangorUnited Kingdom
| | - Holly Bik
- Department Marine Sciences and Institute of Bioinformatics, University of GeorgiaAthensUnited States
| | - Henner Hollert
- Department Evolutionary Ecology & Environmental Toxicology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Goethe University FrankfurtFrankfurtGermany
- LOEWE Centre for Translational Biodiversity Genomics (LOEWE‐TBG)FrankfurtGermany
- Department Media-related Toxicology, Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology (IME)FrankfurtGermany
| | - Luisa Orsini
- Environmental Genomics Group, School of Biosciences, University of BirminghamBirminghamUnited Kingdom
- The Alan Turing Institute, British LibraryLondonUnited Kingdom
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Erratt KJ, Creed IF, Favot EJ, Smol JP, Vinebrooke RD, Lobb DA, Trick CG. Reconstructing historical time-series of cyanobacteria in lake sediments: Integrating technological innovation to enhance cyanobacterial management. JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT 2023; 343:118162. [PMID: 37224685 DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/11/2023] [Indexed: 05/26/2023]
Abstract
The global rise of cyanobacterial blooms emphasizes the need to develop tools to manage water bodies prone to cyanobacterial dominance. Reconstructing cyanobacterial baselines and identifying environmental drivers that favour cyanobacterial dominance are important to guide management decisions. Conventional techniques for estimating cyanobacteria in lake sediments require considerable resources, creating a barrier to routine reconstructions of cyanobacterial time-series. Here, we compare a relatively simple technique based on spectral inferences of cyanobacteria using visible near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (VNIRS) with a molecular technique based on real-time PCR quantification (qPCR) of the 16S rRNA gene conserved in cyanobacteria in 30 lakes across a broad geographic gradient. We examined the sedimentary record from two perspectives: 1) relationships throughout the entire core (without radiometric dating); 2) relationships post-1900s with the aid of radiometric dating (i.e., 210Pb). Our findings suggest that the VNIRS-based cyanobacteria technique is best suited for reconstructing cyanobacterial abundance in recent decades (i.e., circa 1990 onwards). The VNIRS-based cyanobacteria technique showed agreement with those generated using qPCR, with 23 (76%) lakes showing a strong or very strong positive relationship between the results of the two techniques. However, five (17%) lakes showed negligible relationships, suggesting cyanobacteria VNIRS requires further refinement to understand where VNIRS is unsuitable. This knowledge will help scientists and lake managers select alternative cyanobacterial diagnostics where appropriate. These findings demonstrate the utility of VNIRS, in most instances, as a valuable tool for reconstructing past cyanobacterial prevalence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kevin J Erratt
- School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E2, Canada.
| | - Irena F Creed
- School of Environment and Sustainability, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, S7N 5E2, Canada; Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, M1C 1A4, Canada.
| | - Elizabeth J Favot
- Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab, Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
| | - John P Smol
- Paleoecological Environmental Assessment and Research Lab, Department of Biology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada.
| | - Rolf D Vinebrooke
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada.
| | - David A Lobb
- Department of Soil Science, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
| | - Charles G Trick
- Department of Health and Society, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, M1C 1A4, Canada.
| |
Collapse
|