Impact of Climate Change-Driven Droughts on the Concentration of Heavy Metals and Other Elements in Freshwater Cyanobacteria of the Genus Oscillatoriales in the Tatra Mountains

Jakub Tuchyňa () and Martina Haas
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Jakub Tuchyňa: Institute of High Mountain Biology, University of Zilina, Tatranská Javorina, 7, SK-059 56 Zilina, Slovakia
Martina Haas: Institute of High Mountain Biology, University of Zilina, Tatranská Javorina, 7, SK-059 56 Zilina, Slovakia

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 3, 1-19

Abstract: Ongoing global warming and water regime disturbances have a major impact on the natural environment. Algae phytoremediation is one option to monitor environmental changes at an elemental level. In this study, we monitored heavy metals and other elements accumulated by the genus Oscillatoriales . This research was conducted at two sites in the foothills of the High Tatras between 2020 and 2023. Annual differences showed the impact of drought and lack of rainfall on the accumulation of elements in cyanobacteria. The results show how global warming affects the movement of heavy metals and other elements in the natural environment. The Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI) showed very dry to extremely dry weather in 2022. The drought in 2022 induced a decrease in the concentration of Ti, Cr, Mn, Zn, Rb, Zr, Ba, and Pb due to low rock weathering and sediment distortion. The decrease in heavy metals, particularly Zn, resulted in an increase in S concentration due to increased biological activity. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed, in the first component, discharge depended on the accumulation of many elements. The third component of the PCA described the accumulation of S and K in an increased way during the same year, suggesting increased biological activity.

Keywords: cyanobacteria; heavy metal accumulation; climate change; mountain stream; droughts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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