O efeito do regime hidrológico do semiárido na composição de espécies durante dominância de cianobactérias em um reservatório tropical

The potentially toxic cyanobacterial blooms in water bodies are spread across the globe, resulting in the loss of water quality and adverse effects on human health. In arid and semiarid regions, the hydrologic regime characterized by an annual cycle of drought and rain, change the volume and the retention time of the reservoir. Such changes affect the limnological characteristics and causing changes in composition and biomass community of cyanobacteria. The reservoir Cruzeta (Zmax = 8.7 m) is a eutrophic water supply source located in the semiarid tropical (Northeast Brazil). Raised the hypothesis that the hydrological regime of semi-arid tropical is a determining factor in the availability of resources in eutrophic water sources, which influences the composition of dominant species of cyanobacteria. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in biomass and species composition of cyanobacteria for two annual hydrological cycles and evaluate factors drivers. The study was divided into five distinct periods (dry 2010, rain 2011, dry 2011, rain 2012, dry 2012). The dominant group found in all periods was Cyanobacteria (99% of total biomass), which contributed to the low diversity. The filamentous species Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii was present at both points in almost every study. The colonial species Microcystis panniformis and Sphaerocavum brasiliensis dominated only in periods with lower volumes of water. The diatoms contribute more to the biomass during the period of severe drought. The point near the dam (P1) had phytoplankton biomass larger than the point near the tributary (P2). The dominant species of colonial cyanobacteria lasted until the overflow in P1, and P2 this dominance was until the first rains. The redundancy analysis indicated that physical factors such as light availability and water level were the main factors driving the seasonal succession of phytoplankton. The composition of phytoplankton in spring was alternated by species of filamentous cyanobacteria in conditions of poor stability of the water column, such as Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, and colonial species under conditions of high stability of the water column, such as Microcystis panniformis and Sphaerocavum brasiliensis. The extremes of torrential rains and severe droughts, governed by the hydrological regime of the semi-arid region led to the availability of resources in the watershed, directing the spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton in the reservoir Cruzeta

Comunidade fitoplanctônica como discriminador ambiental em açude eutrófico tropical semiárido (Barragem Armando Ribeiro Gonçalves, RN) e divulgação científica para reflexão social

The knowledge of the phytoplankton community, as an integral and dynamic processes of eutrophication, provides information essential for proper management and handling. A growing problem of cyanobacteria in reservoirs around the world as a result of artificial eutrophication processes, generating a particular concern, because some species produce cyanotoxins, which can cause adverse effects on human health. The present work aims to characterize the spatial and temporal dynamics of phytoplankton, assessing their potential as ecological indicator of water quality in reservoirs semiarid region. The samples of water were collected monthly between 2009 and 2011, at three points along the dam Armando Ribeiro Gonçalves / RN. In each sample were measured physico - chemical analysis of water and biological components. We conducted a scientific dissemination activity, with distribution and reading primer on eutrophication, informative talk about water quality, questionnaires and performing a play in a public school in the city of Itajá / RN. The reservoir was considered eutrophic in three points, taking into account the values of chlorophyll -a and phosphorus, adopted to characterize eutrophic environments of semi-arid areas. High density of cyanobacteria, with a maximum value of 2.227.862 cél.ml- 1 and minimum of 43.456 cél.ml- 1 was recorded in lentic and semilêntico points throughout the study, exceeding the levels of drinking water (20.000 cél.ml- 1) established in 2.914/2011 Ordinance of the Ministry of Health of Brazil. All samples contained microcystin, and 44 % had values superiores1μg L- 1. The thermal pattern of the water column showed micro stratifications with differences of less than 1 ° C from five feet deep. The distribution pattern was the type profile clinogrado with oxygen deficit in the bottom of the reservoir. Oxiclina from 10 meters depth was observed during the rainy season (May-June) in the two years of study. The phytoplankton community was represented by 10 functional groups: S1, M, H1, Lo, P, F, Sn, P, W2 and R. The assessment of the ecological status of the system by the index Q showed poor water quality. The results of the study show that the vertical variations were less pronounced than the seasonal variations of cyanobacteria and phytoplankton community in general in the reservoir. The presence of cyanotoxins confirms the need for the monitoring of water quality and measures to reduce eutrophication in water supply reservoirs semiarid RN and demonstrates the challenge for water managers and health authorities to ensure water quality and consequently minimize risks to human health. Compared to the lecture, the primer was considered more efficient in sensitizing the participants, featuring a dynamic practice, differentiated learning, create opportunities for students to rethink attitudes of respect and care for the environment, and shall have the opportunity to learn the subject content from your reality and living environment. The knowledge generated from the activity of scientific were seen as essential for raising awareness of some of the region`s environmental problems , such as eutrophication

Influência da seca extrema na dinâmica fitoplanctônica de um reservatório da região tropical semiárida: uma abordagem morfofuncional

Droughts are climatic phenomena whose frequency has increased in the last decades and also compromised drinkable water supplies in semiarid regions. The lack of rain combined with high evaporation rates promotes a significant reduction of the volume of reservoirs in these regions. Shallower conditions favors nutrients concentration and phytoplankton overgrowth, including potentially toxic cyanobacteria blooming. Therefore, there is a tendency to the intensification of eutrophication in those reservoirs during drought periods. Phytoplankton can respond quickly to environmental conditions related to light and nutrient availability by changes in algal biomass and composition, therefore it is considered a good predictor of environmental variables. Two functional approaches - Reynolds’s Functional Groups (FG) and Kruk’s Morphologically Based Functional Groups (MBFG) - were used to assess which environmental variables were responsible for phytoplankton dynamics, in addition to compare which functional approach explains environmental changes better. This study highlights that the reduction of 90% in the volume of a tropical reservoir of Brazilian semi-arid region, as well as light limitation and nutrient increase, can promote phytoplankton overgrowth. Multivariate analyses using both functional approaches indicated a clear separation between high volumes and low volumes conditions, showing that light and nutrient availability were the main variables that better explained the combination of functional groups. The composition of phytoplankton assemblage changed from species of meso-eutrophic habitats (FG: F and J; MBFG: VI), to organisms of eutrophic and turbid environments (FG: SN and M; MBFG: VIII and VII) during shallower conditions. Both ecological approaches described properly the phytoplankton dynamics according to light and trophic state alterations related to the water volume reduction, therefore they can be considered as equivalent approaches for using in similar environments.