| Summary: | Actually, harmful cyanobacterial efflorescence in Algerian water bodies used for drinking water are dominant throughout the year and their management requires a better knowledge of the cyanobacteria dynamics and the environmental parameters related to their dominance.
The Ain Zada reservoir is a home of 5 genera. Occurrence frequency estimation of the identified genera shows the constancy of Planktothrix, the regularity of Aphanizomenon, Pseudanabaena and Cylindrospermopsis and the rarity of Oscillatoria. The dominating genus Planktothrix is represented exclusively by Planktothrix agardhii ; This species showed the highest proportion rates in winter (95.61 %), spring (94.80 %) and autumn (80.29 %) and the lowest in summer (29.16 %). Planktothrix agardii abundances show positive relation with suspended solids and chlorophyll a and negative relation with the depth of Secchi disc. Blooms of the potential toxinogenic Planktothrix agardhii and Cylindrospermopsis are related negatively. Results from cyanotoxins and pigments characterization showed a strong positive relation of Planktothrix agardhii abundance with microcystins (MCs) and phycocyanin (PC) concentrations. Indeed, in Ain Zada dam, we found that MCs contents have positive relation with water temperature and pH and negative relation with NO3.
Our results show that, except for the months of March, October and November, the monthly abundances of cyanobacterial population recorded in Ain Zada dam exceeded the alert level 2.
The filamentous species found in this dam are of great concern they are able to synthesize toxins harmful to aquatic and terrestrial organisms. Further research is needed to confirm the presence of other cyanotoxins (e.g. cylindrospermopsin) in Ain Zada dam.
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