No evidence of widespread algal bloom intensification in hundreds of lakes

Abstract:

Algal blooms, the rapid proliferation of algal biomass often to nuisance or harmful levels, diminish aquatic ecosystem services. Freshwater blooms can cause substantial economic damage by interrupting drinking water supply, limiting recreational opportunities, and decreasing property values. The interaction between eutrophication and climate change has been hypothesized as a driver of widespread intensification of blooms in inland waters, although there is little empirical evidence that the increase has been pervasive. Here we show that algal bloom intensification in inland waterbodies for a large region of the United States has not been widespread. Only 10.8% of the 323 waterbodies analyzed in this study had significant bloom intensification. Conversely, 16.4% of the waterbodies significantly improved with regards to annual bloom occurrence during the same period. While it is encouraging that bloom intensification isn’t currently widespread, continued efforts towards aquatic ecosystem protection and restoration are imperative for maintaining ecosystem services into the future.