Does boat traffic prevent or cause cyanobacterial blooms?

[jcamp]

Anybody know if the vertical mixing caused by boats churning up the water helps or hurts?

 

Leads on any research would be greatly appreciated.

[BCM]

I am assuming you are referring to cynobaterial blooms caused by eutrophication which is often a result of increased P and N inputs. Take a look at the results on this Google Scholar Search. Many of the articles will be behind a paywall (if you really find one you want to read, I hope you have a friend with access to a university library...) but you can often find PDFs of the articles (the right column in the search is a PDF that Google has identified).

 

You may find some good links Here as well.

 

This is a topic on the out-skirts of my field, I have only read some cursory literature on the topic and can't speak with any authority about the effects of aeration by a boat.

 

Good luck.

[Golfguy]

The short answer is it neither helps nor hurts. Reducing light available for photosynthesis (dye) will help. Cyanobacteria use CO2 and fix N from the atmosphere and in the process of photosynthesis produce O2. Check out the site below.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanobacteria