Although our understanding of HABs is still far from complete, the severity of their impacts precludes waiting for that knowledge before pursuing methods and technologies to, at least in part, prevent, control, and/or mitigate HABs and their impacts. PCM approaches can be based on tools that either physically remove algae, biophysically precipitate the algae out of the water column, chemically kill the algae, inhibit toxin(s) synthesis, prevent toxin(s) release, or remove/degrade toxin(s) from affected waters. The private sector, academia and the federal government have been working on developing and vetting strategies using algaecides, nanobubbles, ozonation, UV-light, flocculants, adsorption, bioremediation, etc. However, questions remain about how effective these methods can be at scale depending on the type of algae and the intensity with which many of the worst HABs occur. While there are now many products in the development stage there are paucity of solutions available on the market. Therefore, in this session, we will showcase research that demonstrates technical advances in the development of PCM methodologies and assessments of their effectiveness, with particular emphasis on the feasibility/scalability of these technologies for real-world applications and transitioning these to practitioners.
Lead Organizer: Felix Martinez, NOAA (felix.martinez@noaa.gov)
Co-organizers:
Jason Huntley, University of Toledo (jason.huntley@utoledo.edu)
Mandy Michalsen, USACE (Mandy.M.Michalsen@usace.army.mil)
Allen Place, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (place@umces.edu)
Kaytee Pokrzywinski, NOAA (kaytee.pokrzywinski@noaa.gov)
Presentations
05:30 PM
Red Tide Mitigation and Technology Development Initiative (8065)
Primary Presenter: Kevin Claridge, Mote Marine Laboratory (kclaridge@mote.org)
Red tide harmful algal blooms, are a higher-than-normal concentration of microscopic alga that occur in ocean and coastal waters. These blooms can harmfully affect sea life, lead to fish kills, cause human respiratory problems, close beaches, and determinately impact shellfish, fishing, hotel, restaurant, recreational, and tourism industries. The Florida Red Tide Mitigation and Technology Development Initiative is a partnership between Mote Marine Laboratory and the State of Florida that establishes an independent and coordinated effort among public and private research entities to develop control and mitigation technologies that will decrease the impacts of Florida red tide on the environment, economy and quality of life in Florida. Initiative funding has allowed Mote to expand the testing of mitigation tools and technologies to find those that kill the algae, minimize the impact of the Karenia brevis toxin, and have no further human health or ecological harm. Mote and it’s 30+ partners have examined over 300 compounds/technologies and more than 35 projects have been completed or are underway. Funded projects follow a tiered testing approach—peer reviewed published literature and/ or lab based (tier 1), mesocosms/raceways (tier 2), and nearshore field sites (tier 3). All funded projects have completed tier 1 testing, most have completed tier 2 or are tweaking previous tank testing, several are in-water or ready to move into field testing (tier 3) and pursuing regulatory approvals and examining commercialization options (tier 4).
05:30 PM
US ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS FRESHWATER HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOM RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE (8469)
Primary Presenter: Mandy Michalsen, USACE Engineer Research and Development Center (Mandy.M.Michalsen@usace.army.mil)
Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) are particularly impactful to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), which manages vast freshwater resources and waterways that provide a variety of services including navigation, flood risk reduction, recreation, fish and wildlife management, as well as potable water supply. The U.S. Army Engineer Research Development Center (USACE-ERDC) was directed to develop and demonstrate scalable technologies that will reduce HAB impacts to our nation’s freshwater resources across scales (e.g. small waterbodies to river reaches), ecoregions (e.g. subtropical to temperate), and system types (e.g. lakes/reservoirs, riverine). The USACE-ERDC Freshwater HAB Research & Development Initiative has funded 40 projects intended to deliver HAB-combatting methods, models, and technologies that may be used alone or in combination to effectively reduce HAB frequency and impacts to water resource development projects across the nation. The poster presentation will highlight funded projects, new technology transfer-focused activities, and will provide an opportunity to engage with federal, state, local, and university partners.
05:30 PM
US HAB-CTI - a national program to accelerate the development and application of HAB control technologies (7844)
Primary Presenter: Taylor Armstrong, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences (tarmstrong@umces.edu)
State and federal agencies along with stakeholder partners are actively engaged in addressing the factors that cause Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs). However, those prevention efforts may take decades before intended outcomes are achieved. We need strategies to control HABs immediately when they form, to reduce health and socio-economic impacts. The United States Harmful Algal Bloom Control Technology Incubator (US HAB-CTI) is a partnership between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science - Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology and the Mote Marine Laboratory, to streamline the vetting process of novel HAB control ideas. The US HAB-CTI is a source of funding, research equipment, and regulatory guidance to accelerate the development and application of control technologies. The incubator funds small, short term projects of freshwater and marine HAB control technologies still in the initial stages of research. This allows more control tools to be tested for their potential to be 1. effective, 2. scalable, 3. feasible, and 4. cost-efficient. Additionally, US HAB-CTI is developing a clearinghouse website to provide guidance to end users and stakeholders on navigating the relevant licensing and permitting processes, and environmental compliance requirements that apply to both potential and existing technologies.
05:30 PM
Algaecidal effects of tryptoline, tryptamine, and other microbial metabolites on target and non-target cyanobacteria and freshwater indicator organisms (8410)
Primary Presenter: Forrest Lefler, University of Florida (flefler@ufl.edu)
Cyanobacterial harmful algal blooms (cyanoHABs) are a growing global concern due to their negative impacts on freshwater ecosystems. To control HABs, researchers are developing short- and long-term mitigation strategies by exploiting natural, bacterial-derived products as targeted chemical control reagents to reduce the severity of HABs. In this study, we further characterized the cyanocidal and ecotoxicological properties of tryptoline and tryptamine against bloom-forming cyanobacterial strains using liquid assays and lawn studies. Results from these experiments indicate that tryptoline and tryptamine, elicit higher algaecidal activity against a range of freshwater cyanobacteria. In addition, tryptoline was more toxic to the cyanobacteria strains compared to tryptamine as it was more recalcitrant to degradation than tryptamine. Acute and chronic testing of the Ceriodaphnia dubia and Pimephales promelas imply that the high hazard of tryptoline does not provide a margin of safety to avoid non-targets effects. In contrast, tryptamine was a moderate to high hazard to non-targets. Results from these studies collectively provide data on the feasibility of bacterial-derived algaecides with regards to multi-treatment regimens, bloom densities, and effects on non-target organisms, which is critical for field testing evaluations towards a short-term chemical mitigation strategy. Future works aim to characterize the algaecidal efficacy of novel bacteria and other bacterial-derived secondary metabolites.
05:30 PM
A NOVEL IMMOBILIZED ALGICIDAL BACTERIA (DINOSHIELD) FOR CONTROLLING HARMFUL DINOFLAGELLATES: ESTABLISHING APPLICATION RATES (8143)
Primary Presenter: William Holland, Department of Commerce NCCOS (chris.holland@noaa.gov)
Previous research investigated the bacterium, Shewanella sp. IRI-160, exhibitalgicidal activity against all harmful dinoflagellates tested while having no negative impacts on other phytoplankton groups tested. Shewanella sp. secrete soluble compounds responsible for the reported algicidal activity and does not require direct . may concerns about . Recent research explored delivering the algicidal product by immobilizing the bacteria and cell-free filtrate in retrievable non-toxic alginate hydrogel matrices designated “DinoSHIELDs”. This study focused on optimizing conditions for algicide delivery within the DinoSHIELD configuration. To establish an effective application rate, several factors were considered bacterial concentration, growth media, and preservation approach; algicidal filtrate potency; K brevis cell density and culture conditions; DinoSHIELD concentrations and contact/exposure time; as well as deployment materials. The objective was to identify an effective rate and limit the total cost and need for long-term cooled storage space while maximizing potency and product stability. This application rate will be tested at scale in future field efforts along the west coast of Florida, USA during active bloom events in confined and unconfined treatment plots up to one acre for routine red tide management in the region.
SS11P - Facing the Gauntlet: Understanding the How, When and Where of HAB Prevention, Control, and Mitigation (PCM)
Description
Time: 5:30 PM
Date: 4/6/2024
Room: Madison Ballroom D