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Algal Blooms in the Environment
Dr. Alan Wilson, a 2003 EPA STAR Fellow, received his Ph.D. in Applied Biology from the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures at Auburn University.
A bloom of blue-green algae was visible Tuesday on the Boston side of the Charles River between the Mass. Ave. Bridge and the band shell. (US ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY) Beth Daley, Globe Staff | July 19, 2007
We have all witnessed the pond, lake or stream that is covered by foam, scum or a mat of algae. Don’t swim! Don’t drink! And who would want to? One of the common culprits of this problem is cyanobacteria, also called blue-green algae. Technically, they are classified as bacteria because they have some characteristics of plants, namely the ability to photosynthesize. Cyanobacteria are becoming a serious problem in surface waters worldwide. Nutrient enrichment from fertilizers, animal waste, sewage plants and other urban and farm sources has promoted these algal blooms. When blooms degrade, the algae use up dissolved oxygen in the water, thus “suffocating” fish and killing them. The algae also produce toxins that can affect humans and animals.
Cyanobacteria are included on U.S. EPA’s Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List 2 (CCL2). The CCL2 is a list of contaminants that are not currently subject to regulation but are known or anticipated to occur in public water systems, and may require future regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act. Consequently, there has been much interest in understanding the factors that promote or control cyanobacterial blooms, especially in waterbodies that are important from economic, ecological, and human health perspectives.
Zooplankton - small aquatic animals - feed on cyanobacteria. Alan’s STAR research examined the influence of genetic variations in cyanobacterial and zooplankton populations on grazer-cyanobacteria interactions. His research showed that cynaobacteria exhibit large genetic, physiological, and ecological variations such as seen in human populations, and that this variability is important in food-web interactions. This diversity means that lake managers should consider each bloom incident unique, and that there are not “one-size-fits-all” solutions to blue-green algal blooms. Understanding the complex interactions of cyanobacteria in the environment will help EPA in making regulatory decisions on them. Alan is now performing field experiments to test whether his findings from the lab can be extended to nature.
For information about Dr. Wilson’s STAR fellowship: http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.abstractDetail/abstract/7021/report/0
Dr. Wilson can be contacted at wilson@auburn.edu,
For information about his current research: www.wilsonlab.com 