Cyanobacteria

Or as you might know it, 'blue-green alga'...

           

'Blue-green alga' is an outdated term for Cyanobacteria; if you have come across a waterbody that looks like the image above, you have found a huge algal bloom.

Cyanobacteria are arguably one of the most, if not the most, important organisms on the planet. They are bacteria despite their most commonly used name. We all know that plants are extremely important and use photosynthesis, which gives us oxygen to breathe, but what gave rise to plants?... Cyanobacteria!

These organisms were the first to use photosynthesis, and due to a endosymbiotic event with a eukaryotic host (a multicellular organism basically took onboard the cyanobacteria and used it for its photosynthetic properties), became what we now know as the chloroplast; which was the reason for the evolution of plants!

But with all that said they can pose a serious threat to other organisms, both land-dwelling and aquatic.

When conditions are just right, these blooms can be huge. When they grow to completely cover huge lakes and other waterbodies, they deplete other aquatic organisms' access to oxygen and sunlight; which can do huge amounts of damage to ecosystems.

Cyanobacteria are finding an abundance of their favourite nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus, due to things like pesticides and fertilisers being in such abundance; thus aiding in the size of their algal blooms. Another huge problem created by the arrival of these giant blooms is something called Cyanotoxins. These deadly toxins can seriously affect the liver, kidney, and nervous systems of land-dwellers such as humans and pets. Problems arise with any form of exposure, but particularly with ingestion of cyanobacteria. Water drinking systems have been completely shut down in some areas due to the contamination by these huge algal blooms. It is extremely important to keep pets away from any waterbody that is covered in Cyanobacteria.

                                                  

       

                                                                         (McNamara, 2023)

Reference:

McNamara, T. (2023). What are cyanobacteria? [online] FreeUP. Available at: https://freeup.world/2023/01/23/what-are-cyanobacteria/ [Accessed 27 Mar. 2023].