Cladophora in the Great Lakes: impacts on beach water quality and human health

摘要

Cladophora in the Great Lakes grows rapidly during the warm summer months, detaches, andnbecomes free-floating mats as a result of environmental conditions, eventually becoming strandednon recreational beaches. Cladophora provides protection and nutrients, which allow entericnbacteria such as Escherichia coli, enterococci, Shigella, Campylobacter, and Salmonella to persistnand potentially regrow in the presence of the algae. As a result of wind and wave action, thesenmicroorganisms can detach and be released to surrounding waters and can influence water quality.nEnteric bacterial pathogens have been detected in Cladophora mats; E. coli and enterococci maynpopulate to become part of the naturalized microbiota in Cladophora; the high densities of thesenbacteria may affect water quality, resulting in unnecessary beach closures. The continued use ofntraditional fecal indicators at beaches with Cladophora presence is inadequate at accuratelynpredicting the presence of fecal contamination. This paper offers a substantial review of availablenliterature to improve the knowledge of Cladophora impacts on water quality, recreational waternmonitoring, fecal indicator bacteria and microorganisms, and public health and policy.