Since October 1997, 47 reservoirs and weir pools across tropical and subtropical Queensland have been regularly monitored for the occurrence of planktic cyanoprokaryotes. Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii (Woloszynska) Seenaya & Subba Raju (Nostocales, Cyanoprokaryota) was found in 70% of the storages, with one storage displaying year‐round dominance, 50% of the reservoirs seasonally dominated and a seasonal presence in 46% of the weir pools. Maxima for the majority of storages occurred from late summer through to early autumn. The precise timing of onset of seasonal maxima varied considerably between storages and regions. Temperature and stratification patterns influenced seasonal recruitment with C. raciborskii reaching seasonal maxima in southern storages generally later than the northern storages. Overall peak seasonal abundance occurred in deep strongly stratified storages. The majority of storages experiencing concentrations > 15 000 cells mL–1 tested positive to the presence of the alkaloid cytotoxin, cylindrospermopsin. Median cylindrospermopsin concentration across the 14 reservoirs in which toxin was recorded was 3.4 μg L–1. The highest toxin concentrations were generally associated with storages in which C. raciborskii had been established for a considerable period of time, or occurred after the peak summer population maxima. Toxin concentrations of 1 μg L–1 were generally associated with cell concentrations of approximately 20 000 cells mL–1, hence this cell concentration threshold was adopted as a health trigger level at which to begin monitoring for toxicity. The morphology of this species was highly variable and included straight, coiled and sigmoid‐shaped trichomes. Populations were routinely recorded as mixtures of all three morphotypes or proceeded as transitions from one morphotype to another throughout the year. The dominance of C. raciborskii appears to be favoured by a set of environmental and hydrological factors that include long water residence time, high pH, high temperature, high incident irradiation and a thermally stratified water column. The lack of visual monitoring cues, such as scum formation, variation in colour of the water body, rapid germination of large numbers of cells, highly variable morphology, relative toxicity and persistence of this species year round in many areas, continues to make this species a primary focus of water managers.

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Drinking water quality is usually determined by its pathogenic bacterial content. However, the potential of water-borne spores as a source of nosocomial fungal infection is increasingly being recognised. This study into the incidence of microfungal contaminants in a typical Australian municipal water supply was carried out over an 18 month period. Microfungal abundance was estimated by the membrane filtration method with filters incubated on malt extract agar at 25 °C for seven days. Colony forming units were recovered from all parts of the system and these were enumerated and identified to genus level. The most commonly recovered genera were Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus and Fusarium. Nonparametric multivariate statistical analyses of the data using MDS, PCA, BEST and bubble plots were carried out with PRIMER v6 software. Positive and significant correlations were found between filamentous fungi, yeasts and bacteria. This study has demonstrated that numerous microfungal genera, including those that contain species which are opportunistic human pathogens, populate a typical treated municipal water supply in sub-tropical Australia.

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Toxins produced by cyanoprokaryotes are a key issue in aquatic management because of their potential to exert adverse effects on humans and aquatic biota. The information gap regarding bioaccumulation and biomagnification processes associated with cyanotoxins, however, has resulted in inadequacies in the management and maintenance of biological diversity in lakes and reservoirs affected by toxic cyanoprokaryote blooms. This paper examines the potential for, and effects of, bioaccumulation of two common cyanotoxins, microcystin and cylindrospermopsin, in aquatic organisms. The factors influencing cyanotoxin bioavailability are discussed in the context of the challenges associated with understanding and managing toxin accumulation. Based on the characteristics of cyanotoxin bioavailability, exposure and uptake routes, a theoretical, predictive model for cyanotoxin bioaccumulation is proposed. Key concepts include monitoring changes in toxin availability throughout the progression of a toxic bloom and the prediction of ecological effects based on internal tissue concentrations. The model explores the minimum requirements that managers must undertake in order to properly assess bioaccumulation risk in terms of frequency of toxin testing, toxin fraction determination and assessment of aquatic organisms.

Static-renewal ecotoxicity trials monitored growth of Hydrilla verticillata in conjunction with exposure to Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii whole-cell extracts containing the cyanotoxin cylindrospermopsin (CYN). Maximum exposure concentrations were 400 microg L(-1) CYN over 14 days. The responses of Hydrilla to the treatments were variable according to the toxin concentrations and lengths of exposure. Plant deaths, chlorosis, and necrosis were not recorded from treated plants. However, Hydrilla experienced significant growth stimulation and redistribution of plant resources in conjunction with exposure to the whole-cell extracts. Root production was particularly impacted. The results of this study imply that root production could aid in reducing C. raciborskii cell concentrations and CYN toxicity. Results of chlorophyll analyses differed, indicating that CYN in whole-cell extracts might exert complex effects on photosynthesis. This is the first study to describe the responses of an aquatic macrophyte following exposure to C. raciborskii whole-cell extracts containing the cyanotoxin cylindrospermopsin.