The ability of barley straw, cypress leaves and L-lysine to inhibit cyanobacteria in Lake Hancock, a hypereutrophic lake in Florida

Lake Hancock is a hypereutrophic lake in Central Florida dominated by nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. In this study, we conducted a replicated aquarium study to determine if additions of barley straw, cypress leaves or the amino acid L-lysine could reduce levels of cyanobacteria in Lake Hancock, as m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Florida scientist 2016-04, Vol.79 (2/3), p.147-158
Main Authors: Tomasko, David A., Britt, Mike, Carnevale, M. J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amino acids
Aquariums
Barley straw
Chlorophyll
Chlorophylls
Cupressus
Cyanobacteria
Dissolved organic matter
Hordeum vulgare
Lake water
Lakes
Nitrogen
Nitrogen fixation
Phosphorus
Water quality
Water quality control
Watersheds
Wetlands
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Summary:Lake Hancock is a hypereutrophic lake in Central Florida dominated by nitrogen-fixing cyanobacteria. In this study, we conducted a replicated aquarium study to determine if additions of barley straw, cypress leaves or the amino acid L-lysine could reduce levels of cyanobacteria in Lake Hancock, as measured by changes in chlorophyll a. Additions of L-lysine brought about the quickest reduction in chlorophyll a compared to controls. However, the effect of L-lysine levelled off after the first week, while aquaria treated with barley straw and cypress leaves showed increased benefits over time. At the end of the three week experiment, the addition of cypress leaves resulted in an 87 percent reduction in chlorophyll a concentrations compared to controls. Prior assessments of water quality have found that lakes that have retained hydrologie connections to their fringing wetlands have higher levels of colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM) than lakes that have been lowered below the elevations of their historical contiguous wetlands. Furthermore, lakes with higher CDOM levels are less susceptible to the influence of nutrient supply. This preliminary study suggests that CDOM may provide lakes with compounds that may moderate the growth of cyanobacteria in lakes with healthy intact wetland fringes.
ISSN:0098-4590