Effects of cyanobacterial accumulation and decomposition on the microenvironment in water and sediment

Abstract

Cyanobacterial blooms pose a serious threat to aquatic environmental health and have emerged as a primary issue in the recovery of eutrophic lakes. In order to comprehensively establish the effects of cyanobacterial blooms on nutrients in the aquatic environment, nutrient migration and transformation were studied in freshwater and sediments during cyanobacterial bloom decomposition. Cyanobacteria and sediments were collected from Zhushan Bay, in Taihu Lake, and the process of cyanobacterial decomposition was simulated in the laboratory. The focus of this research was to assess the effects of cyanobacterial decomposition on physicochemical parameters and nutrient concentrations in water, the vertical distribution of nutrients in sediments. We also determined the moisture content (ΔCw) and organic matter content (ΔOM) in surface sediments. Correlations were assessed between cyanobacterial decomposition and nutrient concentrations in water, with ΔCw and ΔOM in surface sediments simultaneously analyzed. In the water column, electric conductivity (Ec) was found to significantly increase, while dissolved oxygen (DO) and oxidation reduction potential (ORP) rapidly reduced. In addition, pH initially decreased and then increased, while ultraviolet light (UV254) exhibited an opposite trend, which was related to the release and degradation of organic matter during the decomposition of cyanobacteria. Other nutrient concentrations were found to increase gradually with time, with the exception of nitrate nitrogen (NO3−–N), indicating that nutrients undergo temporal transitions between forms during cyanobacterial decomposition. Cyanobacterial decomposition causes ΔOM and ΔCw to increase in surface sediment layers, affecting the vertical distribution of nutrient species in the sediment. The water-sediment interface nutrient flux intensity was ranked in the order total nitrogen (TN) > ammonia nitrogen (NH4+–N) > NO3−–N > total phosphorus (TP), which was related to the settlement of cyanobacterial debris during cyanobacterial decomposition. Good binomial relationships (R2 > 0.90, p < 0.05) were found between cyanobacterial density and nutrient concentrations in the waterbody, as well as between cyanobacterial density and ΔOM or ΔCw in the surface sediment. Cyanobacterial decomposition affected various water quality parameters, leading to nutrient migration and transformation in the water-sediment interface, providing nutrients to drive cyanobacterial bloom development.