[en] The BBLOOMS project was a two-year program, which was primarily
proposed to make a first assessment of the extent of present cyanobacterial blooms
in Belgium and of the potential threat for the surface water resources. In this study,
we addressed several aspects: (i) the extent and phenology of nuisance blooms in
multiple-use Belgian surface waters, (ii) the taxonomic diversity of bloom-forming
cyanobacteria, using traditional and genetic tools, (iii) the use of genetic markers to
estimate whether the organisms are potentially toxic, (iv) the measurement of toxin
concentration in field samples, and (v) the relationship between environmental
variables and nuisance blooms in selected water bodies. Most field samples came
from 4 reference lakes (Blaarmeersen lake in Flanders and three pre-dam lakes of
Eau d’Heure in Wallonia) that were monitored intensively for 2 years. Twenty-three
samples were taken for Blaarmeersen, in a continuous manner. Seventy-three
samples were studied for the Eau d’Heure complex, but only when proliferations
were observed. Additional samples were provided by summer samplings in a series
of small lakes in Flanders carried out by the University of Gent. As this was
insufficient to obtain a global view of the phenomenon, we have built BLOOMNET, a
network of water managers and users, who received information about
cyanobacterial blooms and how to collect them for subsequent analysis. The network
contributed about forty samples from all regions.
Research Center/Unit :
CIP - Centre d'Ingénierie des Protéines - ULiège
Disciplines :
Environmental sciences & ecology
Author, co-author :
Wilmotte, Annick ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département des sciences de la vie > Physiologie et génétique bactériennes
