ABSTRACT Knowledge of the incidence of anthropogenic pressure on water ecosystems is one of the m... more ABSTRACT Knowledge of the incidence of anthropogenic pressure on water ecosystems is one of the main focus of integrated water resource management. The use of biological methods to assess water quality is of particular importance since organisms show an integrating response to their environment. Tolerances or ecological ranges of individual species can differ depending on the taxon, which leads to distinct bioindicator values of cyanobacterial taxa. In addition, a number of morphological and physiological features are known to relate with the environment in which they occur, which makes them excellent environmental indicators. Therefore, we review literature data of the main cyanobacterial methods used to obtain information about changes in running water quality, mainly related to eutrophication processes, which are found as the main cause of disturbance in rivers, with the focus on benthic cyanobacteria, as habitat recommended for monitoring studies. Further, their trophic independence and ease of cultivation make them very useful in the field of bioreporters of environmental monitoring and ecotoxicology. In fact, several cyanobacterial strains have been already genetically engineered to construct bioreporters which respond to different types of pollutants as well as limiting nutrients. The potential of cyanobacteria both as in situ bioindicators as well as bioreporters of environmental analysis in aquatic ecosystems will be discussed.
Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler ar... more Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.
ABSTRACT Knowledge of the incidence of anthropogenic pressure on water ecosystems is one of the m... more ABSTRACT Knowledge of the incidence of anthropogenic pressure on water ecosystems is one of the main focus of integrated water resource management. The use of biological methods to assess water quality is of particular importance since organisms show an integrating response to their environment. Tolerances or ecological ranges of individual species can differ depending on the taxon, which leads to distinct bioindicator values of cyanobacterial taxa. In addition, a number of morphological and physiological features are known to relate with the environment in which they occur, which makes them excellent environmental indicators. Therefore, we review literature data of the main cyanobacterial methods used to obtain information about changes in running water quality, mainly related to eutrophication processes, which are found as the main cause of disturbance in rivers, with the focus on benthic cyanobacteria, as habitat recommended for monitoring studies. Further, their trophic independence and ease of cultivation make them very useful in the field of bioreporters of environmental monitoring and ecotoxicology. In fact, several cyanobacterial strains have been already genetically engineered to construct bioreporters which respond to different types of pollutants as well as limiting nutrients. The potential of cyanobacteria both as in situ bioindicators as well as bioreporters of environmental analysis in aquatic ecosystems will be discussed.
Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler ar... more Global warming will likely force terrestrial plant and animal species to migrate toward cooler areas or sustain range losses; whether this is also true for microorganisms remains unknown. Through continental-scale compositional surveys of soil crust microbial communities across arid North America, we observed a latitudinal replacement in dominance between two key topsoil cyanobacteria that was driven largely by temperature. The responses to temperature of enrichment cultures and cultivated strains support this contention, with one cyanobacterium (Microcoleus vaginatus) being more psychrotolerant and less thermotolerant than the other (M. steenstrupii). In view of our data and regional climate predictions, the latter cyanobacterium may replace the former in much of the studied area within the next few decades, with unknown ecological consequences for soil fertility and erodibility.
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Papers by Virginia Loza