Suppression of cyanobacterial blooms using hydrogen peroxide: effects on phytoplankton and bacteria

Applying low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂ ) to lakes is an emerging method to mitigate harmful cyanobacterial blooms. While cyanobacteria are very sensitive to H₂O₂, little is known about the impacts of these H₂O₂ treatments on other members of the microbial community. In this study, we investigated changes in microbial community composition during two lake treatments with low H₂O₂ concentrations (target: 2.5 mg L⁻¹ ) and in two series of controlled lake incubations. The results show that the H₂O₂ treatments effectively suppressed the dominant cyanobacteria Aphanizomenon klebahnii, Dolichospermum sp. and, to a lesser extent, Planktothrix agardhii. Microbial community analysis revealed that several Proteobacteria (e.g., Alteromonadales, Pseudomonadales, Rhodobacterales) profited from the treatments, whereas some bacterial taxa declined (e.g., Verrucomicrobia). In particular, the taxa known to be resistant to oxidative stress (e.g., Rheinheimera) strongly increased in relative abundance during the first 24h after H₂O₂ addition, but subsequently declined again. Alpha and beta diversity showed a temporary decline but recovered within a few days, demonstrating resilience of the microbial community. We conclude that the use of low concentrations of H₂O₂ to suppress cyanobacterial blooms provides a short-term pulse disturbance, but is not detrimental to lake microbial communities and their ecosystem functioning.