The data contained in the worksheet provides the quantity data of Cyanobacterial 16S sequences, qPCR and water quality parameters. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Li, H., T. Miller, J. Lu, and R. Goel. Nitrogen fixation contribution to nitrogen cycling during cyanobacterial blooms in Utah Lake. CHEMOSPHERE. Elsevier Science Ltd, New York, NY, USA, 302: 134784, (2022).

Sequence data are used for cyanobacterial community and toxic species analysis. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Linz, D., N. Sienkiewicz, I. Struewing, E.A. Stelzer, J.L. Graham, and J. Lu. Metagenomic mapping of cyanobacteria and potential cyanotoxin producing taxa in large rivers of the United States. Scientific Reports. Nature Publishing Group, London, UK, 13: 2806, (2023).

Sequence data are used for cyanobacterial community and toxic species analysis. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Linz, D., N. Sienkiewicz, I. Struewing, E.A. Stelzer, J.L. Graham, and J. Lu. Metagenomic mapping of cyanobacteria and potential cyanotoxin producing taxa in large rivers of the United States. Scientific Reports. Nature Publishing Group, London, UK, 13: 2806, (2023).

Within New Jersey’s Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex, multiple lakes and reservoirs with persistent and recurrent cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) discharge water which ultimately travels downstream in surface water to drinking-water intakes. Cyanobacteria and other water-quality data were collected as part of a collaborative study among multiple agencies, including the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) New Jersey Water Science Center (NJWSC), New Jersey Water Supply Authority, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, and Montclair State University to evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of cyanotoxin occurrence and potential production, persistence, and transport from lacustrine sources to downstream fluvial systems used as a drinking-water source in the Raritan Basin Water Supply Complex, New Jersey. An advanced monitoring strategy using a combination of solid phase adsorption toxin tracking (SPATT) passive samplers, discrete water-quality samples, and continuous monitoring instrumentation, were used to help gain insight on rapidly changing water-quality conditions that affect cyanotoxin production and transport. Eight discrete sampling locations were chosen based upon existing USGS streamflow-gaging stations as well as one site located on Spruce Run Reservoir. Twenty discrete sampling events were conducted across the 8 river sampling locations and 24 sampling events from the reservoir sampling location from August 2020 through August 2021; events occurred twice per month except from December 2020 to April 2021, when samples were collected once per month. Each sampling event was spread over two days, with upstream sites sampled on the first day and downstream sites sampled on the second day. This sampling method mimicked the natural order of streamflow. To meet study objectives, certain types of data were collected, including streamflow, discrete water quality and turbidity samples, water-quality field measurements (water temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and specific conductance), nutrients (ammonia, orthophosphate, nitrate plus nitrite, total phosphorus, and total nitrogen), chlorophyll-a, cyanobacterial genes (cyanobacteria 16S cyanobacterial ribosomal RNA, and cyanotoxin synthetase genes for microcystin, saxitoxin, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin), cyanotoxins (microcystin, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin), and phytoplankton.

Wetlands are frequently used in the U.S. for treating nitrate in agricultural runoff. However, numerous other biologically active contaminants, such as antibiotics and nitrification inhibitors, regularly co-occur with nitrate and many can affect the efficiency of nitrate removal. This project evaluated the discrete and combined effects of specific veterinary and human antibiotics and a common nitrification inhibitor (nitrapyrin) on nitrate-N treatment efficiency in saturated sediments and floating treatment wetlands. Sediment and water samples were collected from 3 locations at the USDA Meat Animal Research Facility near Clay Center NE in August 2019 for assessment of background conditions in order to determine the ideal collection site for future microcosm experiments to quantify rates of N-cycling activity in sediments. The sites ranged in historical exposure to inhibitors from (1) little to no relative historical exposure (Control site) (2) moderate relative historical exposure (Grade Control Structure 5), and (3) heavy relative historical exposure to antibiotic runoff from agricultural and cattle grazing land (Reuse Pit (RP)). Laboratory microcosm experiments were then initiated in December 2019 using sediment collected from the historically high exposure site (Reuse Pit) only and an artificial water prepared based on chemistry of the water measured in August 2019. One set of microcosms was amended with an antibiotic mixture (chlortetracycline, sulfadimethoxine, lincomycin, monensin) and another set with nitrapyrin. The targeted range of concentrations for both sets was 0 to 1000 microgram per L. Sediments were exposed to the inhibitors for 3 weeks prior to initiation of the experiments to ensure the microbial communities were affected by the presence of the inhibitors. Anaerobic denitrification and aerobic nitrification potential rates were then quantified after the 3-week exposure period, and samples were collected for microbial community structure and gene abundance. Background sediments from August and December 2019 collections were characterized for potassium chloride extractable nitrogen species, total percent carbon and nitrogen content, microbial community composition, and gene abundance. And background water chemistry was measured from both collections. Data from the N-cycling measurements, molecular analyses, inhibitor concentrations, and background sediment and water characterization are documented in this data release.

Wetlands are frequently used in the U.S. for treating nitrate in agricultural runoff. However, numerous other biologically active contaminants, such as antibiotics and nitrification inhibitors, regularly co-occur with nitrate and many can affect the efficiency of nitrate removal. This project evaluated the discrete and combined effects of specific veterinary and human antibiotics and a common nitrification inhibitor (nitrapyrin) on nitrate-N treatment efficiency in saturated sediments and floating treatment wetlands. Sediment and water samples were collected from 3 locations at the USDA Meat Animal Research Facility near Clay Center NE in August 2019 for assessment of background conditions in order to determine the ideal collection site for future microcosm experiments to quantify rates of N-cycling activity in sediments. The sites ranged in historical exposure to inhibitors from (1) little to no relative historical exposure (Control site) (2) moderate relative historical exposure (Grade Control Structure 5), and (3) heavy relative historical exposure to antibiotic runoff from agricultural and cattle grazing land (Reuse Pit (RP)). Laboratory microcosm experiments were then initiated in December 2019 using sediment collected from the historically high exposure site (Reuse Pit) only and an artificial water prepared based on chemistry of the water measured in August 2019. One set of microcosms was amended with an antibiotic mixture (chlortetracycline, sulfadimethoxine, lincomycin, monensin) and another set with nitrapyrin. The targeted range of concentrations for both sets was 0 to 1000 microgram per L. Sediments were exposed to the inhibitors for 3 weeks prior to initiation of the experiments to ensure the microbial communities were affected by the presence of the inhibitors. Anaerobic denitrification and aerobic nitrification potential rates were then quantified after the 3-week exposure period, and samples were collected for microbial community structure and gene abundance. Background sediments from August and December 2019 collections were characterized for potassium chloride extractable nitrogen species, total percent carbon and nitrogen content, microbial community composition, and gene abundance. And background water chemistry was measured from both collections. Data from the N-cycling measurements, molecular analyses, inhibitor concentrations, and background sediment and water characterization are documented in this data release.

Metals are used in primary producer metabolic pathways, such as photosynthesis and the acquisition of macronutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P), yet we often do not know their potential as limiting nutrients in freshwaters. In the Great Lakes, metals have sometimes been identified as limiting the acquisition of macronutrients, mostly in off-shore waters that are relatively isolated from tributary inputs and sediment interactions. We hypothesized that another area where metals might be important was within harmful algal blooms (HABs). Harmful algal blooms are more likely to occur where N and P loads are elevated due to human activities, but short-term growth assays still often find summer bloom communities are N or P limited due to high biotic demand. This high biotic is associated with rapid nutrient recycling which may increase demand for trace metals beyond the available supply. A relatively common cyanotoxin (microcystin) has also been hypothesized to have a role in trace metal management, so trace metal demand may also influence the toxicity of bloom communities. Here, we used nutrient diffusing substrates to measure the magnitude of macronutrient and trace metal effects on growth and toxicity of biofilms suspended in 10 nearshore sites in Lake Michigan and Lake Erie (5 with and 5 without perennial HABs). We measured microcystin, chlorophyll a, ash free dry mass and community composition on the experimental biofilms.

Data release including concentrations of cyanotoxins and phytoplankton community composition data for water samples collected from the Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina during 2015.

Data release including concentrations of cyanotoxins and phytoplankton community composition data for water samples collected from the Lake Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge in North Carolina during 2015.

The dataset including qPCR and sequences is used for cyanobacterial characterization and qPCR assay evaluation. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Jeon, Y., I. Struewing, K. McIntosh, M. Tidd, L. Webb, H. Ryu, H. Mash, and J. Lu. Spatial and Temporal Variability of Saxitoxin-Producing Cyanobacteria in U.S. Urban Lakes. Toxins. MDPI, Basel, SWITZERLAND, 16(2): 70, (2024).