Eutrophication and Harmful Algal Blooms: A Scientific Consensus

By J. Heisler, P. Glibert, J. Burkholder, D. Anderson, W. Cochlan, W. Dennison, Q. Dortch, C. Gobler, C. Heil, E. Humphries and 7 more. Harmful Algae, 2008

1,990 citations recorded by the source corpus.

In January 2003, the US Environmental Protection Agency sponsored a “roundtable discussion” to develop a consensus on the relationship between eutrophication and harmful algal blooms (HABs), specifically targeting those relationships for which management actions may be appropriate. Academic, federal, and state agency representatives were in attendance. The following seven statements were unanimously adopted by attendees based on review and analysis of current as well as pertinent previous data: 1) Degraded water quality from increased nutrient pollution promotes the development and persistence of many HABs and is one of the reasons for their expansion in the U.S. and the world; 2) The composition – not just the total quantity – of the nutrient pool impacts HABs; 3) High biomass blooms must have exogenous nutrients to be sustained; 4) Both chronic and episodic nutrient delivery promote HAB development; 5) Recently developed tools and techniques are already improving the detection of some HABs, and emerging technologies are rapidly advancing toward operational status for the prediction of HABs and their toxins; 6) Experimental studies are critical to further the understanding of the role of nutrients in HAB expression, and will strengthen prediction and mitigation of HABs; and 7) Management of nutrient inputs to the watershed can lead to significant reduction in HABs. Supporting evidence and pertinent examples for each consensus statement is provided herein.

Subfields: Environmental Chemistry, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/db799801e62d5b699b501f94e22129fd97aea7c2

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Citations in the corpus

Algal blooms in Ontario, Canada: Increases in reports since 1994 (2011, background): “Global increases in algal blooms have primarily been attributed to nutrient enrichment (Heisler et al. 2008) exacerbated by climate change (Paerl and Huisman 2008).”
State of knowledge and concerns on cyanobacterial blooms and cyanotoxins. (2013, background): “Within a few years, this approach significantly decreased bloom occurrence in numerous surface waters in the US such as Lake Washington, Lake Erie and the Potomac River (Heisler et al., 2008).”
Ecological Stoichiometry, Biogeochemical Cycling, Invasive Species, and Aquatic Food Webs: San Francisco Estuary and Comparative Systems (2011, background): “Increases in many harmful algal species have also been associated with eutrophication (Hallegraeff, 1993; Anderson et al. 2002; Glibert et al., 2005, 2006a, 2010; Glibert and Burkholder, 2006; Heisler et al., 2008).”
Allelopathic effects of Cochlodinium polykrikoides isolates and blooms from the estuaries of Long Island, New York, on co-occurring phytoplankton. (2010, background): “Anthropogenic nutrient loading and physical oceanographic processes are known to play a central role in the outbreak of HABs (Paerl 1988, Hallegraeff 1993, Pitcher & Calder 2000, McGillicuddy et al. 2005, Anderson et al. 2008, Heisler et al. 2008).”
Effects of nitrogenous compounds and phosphorus on the growth of toxic and non-toxic strains of Microcystis during cyanobacterial blooms (2010, background): “Eutrophication is considered a primary cause of many HABs (Paerl 1997, Anderson et al. 2008, Heisler et al. 2008), particularly within freshwater ecosystems (Paerl 1988, 2008, Paerl et al. 2001).”
Harmful dinoflagellate blooms caused by Cochlodinium sp.: Global expansion and ecological strategies facilitating bloom formation (2012, background): “It is tempting to ascribe the expansion of Cochlodinum across the globe during the past two decades to anthropogenic factors such as enhanced nutrient loading (Heisler et al., 2008), ballast water transport (Smayda, 2007), or climate change (Hallegraeff, 2010).”
The role of nitrogenous nutrients in the occurrence of harmful algal blooms caused by Cochlodinium polykrikoides in New York estuaries (USA) (2012, background): “Aureococcus anophagefferens, Karenia brevis, Prorocentrum minimum, and Lingulodinium polyedrum, which also grow well on organic forms of N (Anderson et al., 2008; Heisler et al., 2008).”
Nutrient enrichment and selective predation by zooplankton promote Microcystis (Cyanobacteria) bloom formation (2010, background): “However, eutrophic conditions do not necessarily ensure cyanobacterial bloom formation (Tilman et al., 1982; Steinberg and Hartmann, 1992; Jensen et al., 1994; Nydick et al., 2004; Heisler et al., 2008).”
Harmful algal blooms: How strong is the evidence that nutrient ratios and forms influence their occurrence? (2012, background): “…is related to anthropogenically governed nutrient ratios in coastal waters, and/or the form (quality) of this nutrient, is frequently proposed in the scientific literature (Smayda, 1990; Paerl, 1997; Anderson et al., 2002; Glibert et al., 2005, 2006; Masó and Garcés, 2006; Heisler et al., 2008).”
Integrating micro-algae into wastewater treatment: A review. (2021, background): “Characterised by the increase in phytoplankton growth, blooms of toxic and non-toxic algae associatedwith eutrophication reducewater transparency resulting in attenuated light levels to submerged aquatic vegetation and hence reduced dissolved O2 generation via photosynthesis (Bricker et al., 2008; H”
The globally distributed genus Alexandrium: multifaceted roles in marine ecosystems and impacts on human health (2012, methodology): “The traditional diatom bloom model cannot adequately describe Alexandrium blooms; as mentioned by Heisler et al. (2008), we need to ‘‘move away from simplistic inorganic nutrientdose-yield models’’.”