As filter feeders, invasive non-native mussel species may improve water clarity and increase the depth of light penetration and have been linked to an increase in the productivity of toxin-producing cyanobacteria (Hecky et al., 2004), and an increase in M. Non-native mussel species (i.e., Zebra and Quagga mussels) have been spreading into aquatic ecosystems across North America since their first appearance in 1988, yet much remains unknown about their long-term ecological effects (Strayer, 2009). However, it is not clear how the spread of non-native mussels will impact eutrophication, cyanoHAB proliferation, biogeochemical cycling, and ultimately, carbon burial in lakes and reservoirs. Climate change, including warming temperatures and increased hydrologic variability, is expected to increase the growth and dominance of cyanoHABs (Paerl, 2017). Similarly, the presence of invasive mussels also alters biogeochemical cycling (Higgins & Vander Zanden, 2010 Williamson & Ozersky, 2019). Increasing primary productivity due to the occurrence of cyanoHABs and eutrophication alters nutrient cycling (Alexander et al., 2017) and leads to an increase in carbon burial in lakes and reservoirs (Heathcote & Downing, 2012 Heathcote et al., 2015 Huang et al., 2018). The introduction of invasive mussel species (i.e., Dreissena polymorpha, or Zebra mussel, and Dreissena bugensis, or Quagga mussel) can further compound the proliferation of bloom-forming cyanobacteria through selective consumption (Vanderploeg et al., 2001) and nutrient excretion (Arnott & Vanni, 1996 Conroy et al., 2005 Sarnelle et al., 2005).

Members of these genera also produce toxins such as microcystin, cylindrospermopsin, saxitoxin, and anatoxin that can sicken humans, and kill pets, fish, birds, and other aquatic biota. In eutrophic lakes, genera of cyanobacteria including Microcystis, Planktothrix, Dolichospermum (formerly Anabaena), Aphanizomenon, Anabaenopsis, and Cylindrospermopsis exploit nutrient enrichment coupled to elevated temperatures and thus are common constituents of summer cyanoHABs. CyanoHABs negatively impact water quality by reducing visibility, creating hypoxic zones, and decreasing aquatic biodiversity (e.g., Seehausen et al., 1997 Abrantes et al., 2006 Smith & Schindler, 2009). Nutrient enrichment, a leading cause of eutrophication in freshwater ecosystems, leads to the proliferation of noxious, and sometimes toxic bloom-forming cyanobacteria (Fogg, 1969 Huisman et al., 2005 Paerl & Fulton, 2006). While the results are based on a single time point sampling, they highlight the interactions of multiple environmental stressors in aquatic ecosystems and the critical need for more temporally intensive studies of carbon and nutrient cycling in bloom- and mussel-impacted waters. However, we did find evidence that invasive mussels may influence both carbon and nitrogen cycling.

Based on 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequence analysis, we found that cyanobacterial and algal communities varied across sites and were most closely related to habitat (sediment or water column sample) and site, regardless of the presence of invasive mussels or other environmental factors.

Our samples include both sites impacted by invasive mussels and those where invasive mussels have not yet been observed. Here, we examined microbial community composition and biogeochemical attributes (including carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes) in eutrophic lakes, reservoirs, and rivers in western Ohio, eastern Indiana, and northern Kentucky during the cyanobacterial bloom period of the summer of 2015. However, few studies have considered the combined effects of invasive mussels and cyanoHABs on carbon and nitrogen cycling in freshwater ecosystems. Some evidence suggests the introduction or establishment of invasive mussel species (i.e., Dreissena spp.) also favor cyanoHAB formation through selective filter feeding, a process through which they may also impact biogeochemical processes including carbon cycling and sequestration. Harmful blooms of cyanobacteria (cyanoHABs) alter carbon and nutrient cycling in freshwater ecosystems.

Enrichment of nutrients in lakes and reservoirs (eutrophication) and rising global temperatures favors the proliferation of bloom-forming cyanobacteria. Lakes and reservoirs play key roles in global carbon cycling, especially as a carbon sink.

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