toxins Article Microcystin Prevalence throughout Lentic Waterbodies in Coastal Southern California Meredith D. A. Howard 1,* ID , Carey Nagoda 2, Raphael M. Kudela 3, Kendra Hayashi 3 ID , Avery Tatters 4, David A. Caron 4, Lilian Busse 5, Jeff Brown 1, Martha Sutula 1 and Eric D. Stein 1 ID 1 Southern California Coastal Water Research Project, 3535 Harbor Boulevard, Suite 110, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, USA;
[email protected] (J.B.);
[email protected] (M.S.);
[email protected] (E.D.S.) 2 San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, 2375 Northside Drive, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92108, USA;
[email protected] 3 Department of Ocean Sciences, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95064 USA;
[email protected] (R.M.K.);
[email protected] (K.H.) 4 Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0371, USA;
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[email protected] (D.A.C.) 5 German Federal Environmental Agency, Umweltbundesamt, Wörlitzer Platz 1, 06844 Dessau, Germany;
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[email protected]; Tel.: +1-714-755-3263 Academic Editors: Lesley V. D’Anglada and Elizabeth D. Hilborn Received: 8 May 2017; Accepted: 13 July 2017; Published: 22 July 2017 Abstract: Toxin producing cyanobacterial blooms have increased globally in recent decades in both frequency and intensity. Despite the recognition of this growing risk, the extent and magnitude of cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxin prevalence is poorly characterized in the heavily populated region of southern California. Recent assessments of lentic waterbodies (depressional wetlands, lakes, reservoirs and coastal lagoons) determined the prevalence of microcystins and, in some cases, additional cyanotoxins.