Monitoring Cyanobacterial Blooms during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Campania, Italy: The Case of Lake Avernus.

ABSTRACT: Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous photosynthetic microorganisms considered as important contributors to the formation of Earth's atmosphere and to the process of nitrogen fixation. However, they are also frequently associated with toxic blooms, named cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs). This paper reports on an unusual out-of-season cyanoHAB and its dynamics during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Lake Avernus, South Italy. Fast detection strategy (FDS) was used to assess this phenomenon, through the integration of satellite imagery and biomolecular investigation of the environmental samples. Data obtained unveiled a widespread Microcystis sp. bloom in February 2020 (i.e., winter season in Italy), which completely disappeared at the end of the following COVID-19 lockdown, when almos

SUBMITTER: Teta R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8310267 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature