Monthly Phytoplankton Taxonomic Quantification in Lake Okeechobee and the Okeechobee Waterway, Florida, USA, 2019–2021

An interdisciplinary and multiagency study was completed to understand harmful algal bloom dynamics by describing the spatial and temporal patterns and drivers of phytoplankton community structure and cyanotoxin and cyanotoxin-gene concentrations in Lake Okeechobee and Okeechobee Waterways in South Florida. The Waterway includes the Caloosahatchee and St. Lucie Rivers which drain the lake westward to the Gulf of Mexico and eastward to the Atlantic Ocean, respectively. Algae and cyanobacteria play crucial roles in aquatic ecosystems, but under favorable environmental conditions certain taxa experience population growth booms resulting in harmful algal blooms. Cyanobacteria are considered the most common bloom-formers in freshwaters [...]