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Editorial

Cyanobacteria: Impacts of climate change on occurrence, toxicity and water quality management

Cyanobacteria have been present on earth for billions of years and continue to evolve and adapt to our changing environmental conditions, thriving in both marine and fresh water sources impacted by development and climate change. A major trigger for the proliferation of cyanobacteria in water is the input of nutrients resulting from urbanisation, modern agricultural practices and erosion of fertile soils. In addition, warmer global temperatures, low river ows and eutrophication associated with drought conditions favour the growth of cyanobacteria. Problems associated with cyanobacteria in water, and therefore scientic and community interest, are increasing in many parts of the world. Our special issue Cyanobacteria: Impacts of Climate Change on Occurrence, Toxicity and Water Quality Management consists of a collection of papers addressing the potential impact of climate change on cyanobacteria and the resulting effects on drinking water quality and supply. We present several reviews covering elements of a changing climate that may have an inuence on cyanobacteria, including increased temperatures and changes in thermal stratication, severe storm events and protracted dry spells. Potential consequences of these changing climatic conditions discussed in the contributions include variations in cyanobacterial distribution and occurrence, species domination and toxin occurrence. Modelling of future impacts on water quality is important for planning in water industry worldwide, and we have included contributions on modelling of cyanobacterial growth and the likely outcomes for water supply. Mitigation strategies are important e preferably source water and where this is not sufciently effective, in treatment plants, and our issue includes discussion of current practices, as well as cutting edge innovative research that will guide us towards the application of effective technologies for the future. State of the art genetic techniques are allowing the identication of individual strains and affording us insights into the life cycle of cyanobacteria and metabolite production that would have been astonishing even ve years ago.

Some of the highlights included in this special issue are:  A long term genetic study of benthic Microcystis that reveals important new information to improve understanding of patterns of occurrence from year to year. The contribution also describes the changes in the potential of the cyanobacteria to produce microcystin compared with the actual production of the toxin over its life cycle.  A report of a highly toxic cyanobacterial bloom in a fresh water source and the consequent disturbing accumulation of toxic cyanobacteria and dissolved toxins in an operating drinking water treatment plant. While the occurrences of severe problems associated with toxic cyanobacteria are a relatively unusual phenomenon in Canada, they appear to be increasing in frequency and may well be approaching the frequencies seen in countries that are more renowned for such issues - South Africa, Australia and Brazil. This paper is of particular relevance to water utilities as it demonstrates the resistance of this environmental bloom to water treatment processes formerly considered effective for toxin removal.  The discovery of toxic effects associated with a freshwater strain of Limnothrix that could not be attributed to any of the known cyanotoxins. The authors have named the toxin, or group of toxins Limnothrixin and continue to work towards chemical identication of the compound(s). This contribution is a timely reminder that the few cyanotoxins that we can analyse using our increasingly sophisticated instrumentation are probably not the only cyanobacterial metabolites that are of health concern. It conrms that toxicity testing as a screening tool is extremely important in the identication of hazards associated with cyanobacteria. The guest editors would like to thank all authors contributing to this issue; the manuscripts individually are of high quality and collectively they document the latest understanding of the relationship between a changing climate and cyanobacteria. We also appreciate the great effort of the many reviewers called upon to offer constructive advice for the improvement of the submissions. Finally we would like to

0043-1354/$ e see front matter 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.watres.2011.12.047

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thank Elsevier for the opportunity to compile such a special issue of Water Research, and in particular thanks to Fred Kop, Journal Manager and David Dixon, Editor, for their help at every stage in the preparation of the issue, and for their unfailing good humour and patience. Gayle Newcombe* Australian Water Quality Centre, South Australian Water Corporation, University of South Australia, GPO Box 1751, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia Ingrid Chorus1 Federal Environment Agency, Dept Drinking Water & Bathing Water Hygiene, D-14195 Berlin, Germany E-mail address: ingrid.chorus@uba.de

Ian Falconer2 University of Adelaide, School of Medical Sciences, 44 Mirning Crescent Aranda ACT 2614, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia E-mail addresses: ian.falconer@adelaide.edu.au ifalconer@netspeed.com.au Tsair-Fuh Lin3 Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan City 70101, Taiwan E-mail address: tin@mail.ncku.edu.tw *Corresponding author. Tel.: 61 8 74242121. E-mail address: gayle.newcombe@sawater.com.au Available online 27 December 2011

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