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Ecological Factors Governing Blue-Green Algae Blooms DANIEL F. JACKSON, Professor Department of Civil Engineering Syracuse University Syracuse, New York INTRODUCTION Although algal blooms are not recent twentieth century phenomena, they are, however, more prevalent today than they were 50 years ago. Evidences for this may be found in the increased research and literature associated with the mechanism and control of algal blooms. There is to date no universally accepted formal definition of wnat an algal bloom is. Lackey (1) defined a bloom as "an unusually large number of plankters, usually one or a few species, per unit of the first few centimeters of surface water." An attempt to express a bloom quantitatively was made by Sawyer et al. (2) by assigning it the arbitrary unit of 500 individuals per ml. It is obvious that there is a distinct difference between a plankton population of 500 cells of Microcystis and one with 500 cells of Oscillatoria. Jackson (3), for simplicity's sake, had defined an algal bloom as "a visible change in the water mass produced by an increased growth of algal cells." The divisions of algae which contain species associated with phytoplankton blooms include the Chlorophyta, Chrysophyta, Pyrrhophyta, and Cyanophyta. In the past, investigators have not distinguished among the causes and effects associated with each kind of algal bloom. Individual phytoplankton blooms have been evaluated collectively and, as a result, contradictory and nebulous statements have emerged. The objective of this paper is to incorporate from the literature and from experimental observation, data related to blue-green algae blooms and to evaluate the possible mechanisms concerned with their formation. Of the many problems associated with the continuous eutrophication of rivers and lakes, it is with the blue-green algae that most of the vicissitudes of man are related. The literature is replete with references to the changes of a beautiful clear lake into a highly colored green cesspool, produced by algae. Hundreds of miles of beaches and shorelines are laden with tons of decomposing algae which pollute the atmosphere. The destruction of myriads of fish from the depletion of dissolved oxygen, the deaths of cows, horses, sheep, waterfowl and even serious human illness, all these resulting from algae, are on the increase. The blue- green algae are the only freshwater algal forms which have been demonstrated to be toxic (4). Many non-biologists are of the opinion that all algae are the same. This is somewhat analogous to the concept that all small fish are minnows. Among the different divisions of algae, the blue-green group is the most distinctive. The blue-green algal cell is a procaryotic type. The characteristics of this type of cell are common to the bacteria, but not to any other kinds of algae. The procaryotic cell nucleus is never separated from the cytoplasm by a nuclear membrane and it contains no chromosomes. Mitosis does not occur; instead the entire nuclear body splits into two smaller parts without any significant change of shape. - 402 -
Object Description
Purdue Identification Number | ETRIWC196435 |
Title | Ecological factors governing blue-green algae blooms |
Author | Jackson, Daniel F. |
Date of Original | 1964 |
Conference Title | Proceedings of the nineteenth Industrial Waste Conference |
Conference Front Matter (copy and paste) | http://earchives.lib.purdue.edu/u?/engext,11114 |
Extent of Original | p. 402-420 |
Series |
Engineering extension series no. 117 Engineering bulletin v. 49, no. 1(a)-2 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Date Digitized | 2009-05-19 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
Description
Title | page 402 |
Collection Title | Engineering Technical Reports Collection, Purdue University |
Repository | Purdue University Libraries |
Rights Statement | Digital object copyright Purdue University. All rights reserved. |
Language | eng |
Type (DCMI) | text |
Format | JP2 |
Capture Device | Fujitsu fi-5650C |
Capture Details | ScandAll 21 |
Transcript | Ecological Factors Governing Blue-Green Algae Blooms DANIEL F. JACKSON, Professor Department of Civil Engineering Syracuse University Syracuse, New York INTRODUCTION Although algal blooms are not recent twentieth century phenomena, they are, however, more prevalent today than they were 50 years ago. Evidences for this may be found in the increased research and literature associated with the mechanism and control of algal blooms. There is to date no universally accepted formal definition of wnat an algal bloom is. Lackey (1) defined a bloom as "an unusually large number of plankters, usually one or a few species, per unit of the first few centimeters of surface water." An attempt to express a bloom quantitatively was made by Sawyer et al. (2) by assigning it the arbitrary unit of 500 individuals per ml. It is obvious that there is a distinct difference between a plankton population of 500 cells of Microcystis and one with 500 cells of Oscillatoria. Jackson (3), for simplicity's sake, had defined an algal bloom as "a visible change in the water mass produced by an increased growth of algal cells." The divisions of algae which contain species associated with phytoplankton blooms include the Chlorophyta, Chrysophyta, Pyrrhophyta, and Cyanophyta. In the past, investigators have not distinguished among the causes and effects associated with each kind of algal bloom. Individual phytoplankton blooms have been evaluated collectively and, as a result, contradictory and nebulous statements have emerged. The objective of this paper is to incorporate from the literature and from experimental observation, data related to blue-green algae blooms and to evaluate the possible mechanisms concerned with their formation. Of the many problems associated with the continuous eutrophication of rivers and lakes, it is with the blue-green algae that most of the vicissitudes of man are related. The literature is replete with references to the changes of a beautiful clear lake into a highly colored green cesspool, produced by algae. Hundreds of miles of beaches and shorelines are laden with tons of decomposing algae which pollute the atmosphere. The destruction of myriads of fish from the depletion of dissolved oxygen, the deaths of cows, horses, sheep, waterfowl and even serious human illness, all these resulting from algae, are on the increase. The blue- green algae are the only freshwater algal forms which have been demonstrated to be toxic (4). Many non-biologists are of the opinion that all algae are the same. This is somewhat analogous to the concept that all small fish are minnows. Among the different divisions of algae, the blue-green group is the most distinctive. The blue-green algal cell is a procaryotic type. The characteristics of this type of cell are common to the bacteria, but not to any other kinds of algae. The procaryotic cell nucleus is never separated from the cytoplasm by a nuclear membrane and it contains no chromosomes. Mitosis does not occur; instead the entire nuclear body splits into two smaller parts without any significant change of shape. - 402 - |
Resolution | 300 ppi |
Color Depth | 8 bit |
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