Development of a mobile phone application for the prediction of harmful algal blooms in inland lakes

In partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey Coastal and Marine Hazards and Resources Program (USGS CMHRP) and the U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP), the American Shore and Beach Preservation Association (ASBPA) has identified coastal stakeholders’ top coastal management challenges. Informed by two annual surveys, a multiple-choice online poll was conducted in 2019 to evaluate stakeholders’ most pressing problems and needs, including those they felt most ill-equipped to deal with in their day-to-day duties and which tools they most need to address these challenges. The survey also explored where users find technical information and what is missing. From these results, USGS CMHRP, USCRP, ASBPA, and other partners aim to identify research needs that will inform appropriate investments in useful science, tools, and resources to address today’s most pressing coastal challenges. The 15-question survey yielded 134 complete responses with an 80% completion rate from coastal stakeholders such as local community representatives and their industry consultants, state and federal agency representatives, and academics. Respondents from the East, Gulf, West, and Great Lakes coasts, as well as Alaska and Hawaii, were represented. Overall, the prioritized coastal management challenges identified by the survey were: Deteriorating ecosystems leading to reduced (environmental, recreational, economic, storm buffer) functionality, Increasing storminess due to climate change (i.e. more frequent and intense impacts), Coastal flooding, both Sea level rise and associated flooding (e.g. nuisance flooding, king tides), and Combined effects of rainfall and surge on urban flooding (i.e. episodic, short-term), Chronic beach erosion (i.e. high/increasing long-term erosion rates), and Coastal water quality, including harmful algal blooms (e.g. red tide, sargassum). A careful, systematic, and interdisciplinary approach should direct efforts to identify specific research needed to tackle these challenges. A notable shift in priorities from erosion to water-related challenges was recorded from respondents with organizations initially formed for beachfront management. In addition, affiliation-specific and regional responses varied, such as Floridians concern more with harmful algal blooms than any other human and ecosystem health related challenge. The most common need for additional coastal management tools and strategies related to adaptive coastal management to maintain community resilience and continuous storm barriers (dunes, structures), as the top long-term and extreme event needs, respectively. In response to questions about missing information that agencies can provide, respondents frequently mentioned up-to-date data on coastal systems and solutions to challenges as more important than additional tools.

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MONITORING THE WATER QUALITY AND THE TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF PHYTOPLANKTON USING REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY TO UNDERSTAND HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS IN THE OLD WOMAN CREEK NATIONAL ESTUARINE RESERVE, OHIO

10.1130/abs/2018am-323565 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Lorita Mihindukulasooriya ◽

◽

Brenna S. Mabry ◽

Joseph D. Ortiz

Keyword(s):

Water Quality ◽

Temporal Variability ◽

Harmful Algal Blooms ◽

Algal Blooms ◽

Reflectance Spectroscopy ◽

Old Woman Creek

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Marine harmful algal blooms (HABs) in the United States: History, current status and future trends

Harmful Algae ◽

10.1016/j.hal.2021.101975 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 101975

Author(s):

Donald M. Anderson ◽

Elizabeth Fensin ◽

Christopher J. Gobler ◽

Alicia E. Hoeglund ◽

Katherine A. Hubbard ◽

...

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Harmful Algal Blooms ◽

Algal Blooms ◽

United States History ◽

The United States ◽

Current Status ◽

Future Trends ◽

States History

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Mitochondrial genome evolution in pelagophyte algae

Genome Biology and Evolution ◽

10.1093/gbe/evab018 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Shannon J Sibbald ◽

Maggie Lawton ◽

John M Archibald

Keyword(s):

Mitochondrial Genome ◽

Harmful Algal Blooms ◽

Algal Blooms ◽

23S Rrna ◽

Mitochondrial Genomes ◽

Trna Genes ◽

Unique Region ◽

Long Read ◽

Genomic Studies ◽

Aureoumbra Lagunensis

Abstract The Pelagophyceae are marine stramenopile algae that include Aureoumbra lagunensis and Aureococcus anophagefferens, two microbial species notorious for causing harmful algal blooms. Despite their ecological significance, relatively few genomic studies of pelagophytes have been carried out. To improve understanding of the biology and evolution of pelagophyte algae, we sequenced complete mitochondrial genomes for A. lagunensis (CCMP1510), Pelagomonas calceolata (CCMP1756) and five strains of A. anophagefferens (CCMP1707, CCMP1708, CCMP1850, CCMP1984 and CCMP3368) using Nanopore long-read sequencing. All pelagophyte mitochondrial genomes assembled into single, circular mapping contigs between 39,376 base-pairs (bp) (P. calceolata) and 55,968 bp (A. lagunensis) in size. Mitochondrial genomes for the five A. anophagefferens strains varied slightly in length (42,401 bp—42,621 bp) and were 99.4%-100.0% identical. Gene content and order was highly conserved between the A. anophagefferens and P. calceolata genomes, with the only major difference being a unique region in A. anophagefferens containing DNA adenine and cytosine methyltransferase (dam/dcm) genes that appear to be the product of lateral gene transfer from a prokaryotic or viral donor. While the A. lagunensis mitochondrial genome shares seven distinct syntenic blocks with the other pelagophyte genomes, it has a tandem repeat expansion comprising ∼40% of its length, and lacks identifiable rps19 and glycine tRNA genes. Laterally acquired self-splicing introns were also found in the 23S rRNA (rnl) gene of P. calceolata and the coxI gene of the five A. anophagefferens genomes. Overall, these data provide baseline knowledge about the genetic diversity of bloom-forming pelagophytes relative to non-bloom-forming species.

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Performance of a Handheld Chlorophyll-a Fluorometer: Potential Use for Rapid Algae Monitoring

Water ◽

10.3390/w13101409 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (10) ◽

pp. 1409

Author(s):

Hamdhani Hamdhani ◽

Drew E. Eppehimer ◽

David Walker ◽

Michael T. Bogan

Keyword(s):

Chlorophyll A ◽

Surface Waters ◽

Harmful Algal Blooms ◽

Algal Blooms ◽

Water Quality Monitoring ◽

Ambient Light ◽

Calibration Equation ◽

Field Samples ◽

Potential Use

Chlorophyll-a measurements are an important factor in the water quality monitoring of surface waters, especially for determining the trophic status and ecosystem management. However, a collection of field samples for extractive analysis in a laboratory may not fully represent the field conditions. Handheld fluorometers that can measure chlorophyll-a in situ are available, but their performance in waters with a variety of potential light-interfering substances has not yet been tested. We tested a handheld fluorometer for sensitivity to ambient light and turbidity and compared these findings with EPA Method 445.0 using water samples obtained from two urban lakes in Tucson, Arizona, USA. Our results suggested that the probe was not sensitive to ambient light and performed well at low chlorophyll-a concentrations (<25 µg/L) across a range of turbidity levels (50–70 NTU). However, the performance was lower when the chlorophyll-a concentrations were >25 µg/L and turbidity levels were <50 NTU. To account for this discrepancy, we developed a calibration equation to use for this handheld fluorometer when field monitoring for potential harmful algal blooms in water bodies.

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