Seed banks for summer blooms
Cyanobacteria don’t vanish in winter—they hibernate in sediments. This overwintering cyanobacteria preventative HAB management guide sampled three USACE reservoirs (KS & OK) and found 85 % of sites contained resting-stage cells; 54 % produced ≥ 100,000 cells mL-1 in lab incubations—enough for a full-scale bloom.
Two-line-of-evidence framework
1. Sediment enumeration of resting cells.
2. 14-day incubations to confirm growth potential.
Combining both lines lets managers rank coves and schedule winter algaecide or dredging before blooms erupt.
Weight-of-evidence scoring
The authors provide a red-yellow-green logic table that flags hotspots where sediment treatment will delay spring blooms the most. Marion Reservoir topped the risk list, while Heyburn Lake scored lowest.
Takeaways for Tennessee ponds and lakes
- Sampling just two cores per cove captured 80 % of hotspots.
- Bottom-diffused aeration reduced benthic cell survival in trials.
- Winter treatments bought an extra 4–6 weeks of bloom-free recreation time.
Use this overwintering cyanobacteria preventative HAB management framework to build a winter action plan for HOA ponds or TVA reservoirs.
Download the full PDF to get the lab protocols, scoring template, and case-study numbers.
