NOAA experts believe the two may be related

Aug 4, 2010 06:51 GMT  ·  By
The influence of phosphorus on algal blooms in the Great Lakes are the subject of a new scientific study
   The influence of phosphorus on algal blooms in the Great Lakes are the subject of a new scientific study

Experts at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have for a long time proposed that the chemical element phosphorus may be playing an active role in supporting the development of algal blooms in the Great Lakes of Northern America. However, they never knew this for sure, which is precisely why they recently awarded a $285,895 grant to the Stony Brook University (SBU), in New York. Scientists here are to investigate the effects that various kinds of phosphorous have on blue-green algae populations.

The new funds represent just a part of the total project costs. The entire investigation is expected to last for about three years, and to cost some $500,000. The targeted chemical is known for being a necessary growth factor in plants, but the goal of the SBU team is to determine how different variants of the stuff affect the development of blue-green algae into toxic blooms. The group is to conduct its investigations in the Great Lakes region, as this is where algal blooms are threatening to disrupt the established food chain.

“There are many types of phosphorus and knowing which types can trigger a toxic algal bloom is paramount. Coastal managers and local officials need this data to make important decisions to protect public health and the coastal ecosystem,” explains Stony Brook University associate professor Christopher Gobler. He is also the lead investigator on the research initiative. The scientist says that Lake Erie and Lake Ontario are oftentimes the victims of “unsightly” algal blooms, which most of the time are caused by the algal species Microcystis.

In addition to looking really nasty, the blooms can also produce a variety of toxins, which pose a serious public health problem. The substances can affect water supplies, and can trigger serious chronic diseases in the human population. As such, determining how to stop the blooms from happening in the first place has been a very important objective of biologists in the area for years. The NOAA Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) Program was partially created to answer this call.