The impact nitrogenous additions have on microcystin production by cyanobacteria in a glyphosate treated reservoir
Abstract
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms are negatively impacting lakes globally. These bloom events can produce toxins that can have harmful implications for the wildlife and humans that interact with them. One of these toxins that can be produced is microcystin. The research question for this experiment is what impact does adding different nitrogenous compounds have on microcystin production in a reservoir previously treated with glyphosate. Nutrient enrichment experiments were conducted on water samples from the glyphosate treated reservoir. Nitrate (NO3-), ammonium (NH4+), urea, and a mixture of all of the aforementioned were added to collected water in triplicate. A control was also prepared. Phosphorus (PO43-) was added to all of the samples, except for the control, to ensure that PO43- would not be a limiting nutrient. I found that between treatments there was a significant difference between Chla concentrations but there was no significant difference between microcystin concentrations. However, there were differences between days for both microcystin and Chla. These results are significant because they can aid the world in understanding which nitrogenous compounds have the highest impact on the resulting toxin concentration, which can be useful for planning management strategies and understanding if preventing nitrogen compounds from entering water bodies is a good investment for lake managers.
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