Green Snot taking over the world’s rivers

A strange green organism has spread around the globe, clogging up the world's rivers

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20140922-green-snot-takes-over-worlds-rivers

Presented by Larry O'Hanlon

Has Didymo always been in the rivers of British Columbia?

It began with a few small strange patches of slime, clinging to the rocks of the Heber River in Canada. Within a year, the patches had become thick, blooming mats. Within a few years the mats had grown into a giant green snot. And within a few decades this snot had spread around the world, clogging up rivers as far away as South America, Europe and Australasia.

This snot, which is still flourishing today, is caused by a microscopic alga, a diatom that goes by its scientific name Didymosphenia geminata. It has become so notorious it has its own moniker, Didymo. People have been blamed for the sudden, global explosion of this tiny organism, unwittingly carrying the algae from river to river on fishing gear, boats and kayaks. The huge snots it forms have wreaked havoc in waterways, forcing governments and environmental organisations to initiate huge and costly clean-up operations.

But underlying the snots’ strange appearance is an even stranger story. About Didymo itself, about what it is, and how it behaves.

Scientists are now discovering that the sudden appearance of Didymo may not have been so sudden after all.

River users are told to help stop Didymo.

 Its blooms aren’t really blooms – instead they are more of an elixir-induced metamorphosis. And Didymo seems to ignore the usual rules followed by invasive species. It even appears likely that this little diatom may not even be a significant problem itself; instead the green snot it forms may be a symptom of greater changes underway in freshwater systems around the world.

Didymo, aka 'Rock snot,' spreading fast as climate warms

BY Yereth Rosen, Anchorage Daily News

Rock snot, a slimy-looking algae that vexes salmon and salmon fishermen, is not an alien invader but a homegrown threat gaining strength in changing water conditions, according to a new study by scientists from Dartmouth and Environment Canada.

Officially known as Didymosphenia geminata, which scientists shorten to didymo, it has existed in portions of Alaska for some eight centuries, said the study published online last week in the journal BioScience.

Only recently, though, has the nuisance algae been noticed, even in sites considered pristine, thanks to aggressive growth that spreads rock snot stalks in lakes, rivers and streams.

"It's in Patagonia. It's in Tierra del Fuego. It's in Alaska," said study co-author Brad Taylor of Dartmouth College. It is also in British Columbia, New York and various northeastern U.S. states. Sweden, Poland and Colorado see it, too.

Alaska officials have waged a crusade against rock snot. Alaska is among several states that ban felt soles in fishermen's waders; the state Department of Fish and Game cites felt's ability to absorb and transport a plethora of unwanted organisms to new places. The Alaska House this year passed a bill that allows state officials to mount a rapid response to eradicate invasive aquatic species and establishes a fund to pay for it; the bill died, however, without Senate action.

Explosion linked to phosphorus

But when it comes to combating rock snot in Alaska, anti-invader strategies may do little, according to Taylor's study. Core samples at Naknek Lake show that rock snot has been there since the year 1200, the study notes. As long as the didymo did not bloom, Taylor said, it went mostly unnoticed.

"Unless you scrubbed a rock and looked in a microscope, you would never know it's there," he said. "Absence of evidence was used as evidence of absence."

Spotted salamander is solar-powered - vertebrate/algae symbiote

Spotted salamander is solar-powered - vertebrate/algae symbiote

The spotted salamander (Ambystoma maculatum) is found throughout the eastern USA and parts of southern Canada. While a number of animals, including corals, sponges, sea slugs and one species of hornet have algae living in them that use sunlight to make sugar, no backboned animal has been found that can harness the sun – until now. It has long been suspected, and now there is hard evidence: the spotted salamander is solar-powered.

Plants make food using photosynthesis, absorbing light to power a chemical reaction that converts carbon dioxide and water into glucose and releases oxygen. Corals profit from this reaction by housing photosynthetic algae inside their shells.
Spotted salamanders, too, are in a long-term relationship with photosynthetic algae. In 1888, biologist Henry Orr reported that their eggs often contain single-celled green algae called Oophila amblystomatis. The salamanders lay the eggs in pools of water, and the algae colonise them within hours.

By the 1940s, biologists strongly suspected it was a symbiotic relationship, beneficial to both the salamander embryos and the algae. The embryos release waste material, which the algae feed on. In turn the algae photosynthesise and release oxygen, which the embryos take in. Embryos that have more algae are more likely to survive and develop faster than embryos with few or none.
Then in 2011 the story gained an additional twist. A close examination of the eggs revealed that some of the algae were living within the embryos themselves, and in some cases were actually inside embryonic cells. That suggested the embryos weren't just taking oxygen from the algae: they might be taking glucose too. In other words, the algae were acting as internal power stations, generating fuel for the salamanders.

To find out if that was happening, Erin Graham of Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and colleagues incubated salamander eggs in water containing radioactive carbon-14. Algae take up the isotope in the form of carbon dioxide, producing radioactive glucose. Graham found that the embryos became mildly radioactive – unless kept in the dark. That showed that the embryos could only take in the carbon-14 via photosynthesis in the algae.
The algae do not seem to be essential to the embryos, but they are very helpful: embryos deprived of algae struggle.

"Their survival rate is much lower and their growth is slowed," says Graham.
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Source: NewScientist
LakeStewardship Blog

EPA Sponsoring Webcast Series to Raise Awareness about Harmful Algal Blooms and Nutrient Pollution

On June 25, 2013, EPA's Watershed Academy will sponsor a free webcast on harmful algal blooms (HABs) and their Impacts in freshwater and marine ecosystems,the first in a series of webinars about this worsening environmental problem and public health threat. Jennifer Graham with the United States Geological Survey and Quay Dortch with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will start the series with an introduction to HABs, their causes, and their impacts, and EPA HAB expert Mario Sengco will moderate. This webcast series is a part of a broader outreach effort this summer that will aim to focus public attention on HABs, which can sicken people and pets, devastate aquatic ecosystems, and harm the economy. To register, visit www.epa.gov/watershedwebcasts
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Source: Water Headlines

World's First Algae-Powered Building Opens This Month in Germany

Splitterwerk Architects have designed an algae powered building, dubbed BIQ, which will be the very first of its kind. Covered with a bio-adaptive façade of microalgae, the distinctive building has been designed for the International Building Exhibition in Hamburg and is slated to open this month.

To create the algae façade, the building is covered in bio-reactive louvers that enclose the algae. These louvers allow the algae to survive and grow faster than they would otherwise while also providing shade for the interior of the building. Additionally, the bio-reactors trap the heat energy created by the algae, which can then be harvested and used to power the building. Once the building is completed, it will be evaluated by scientists and engineers to allow for future research and adaptation for future building projects.

Read more: World's First Algae-Powered Building by Splitterwerk Architects Opens This Month in Germany | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

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Source: Kristine Lofgren, Inhabitat

European Algae Biomass 2013

Accelerating the Commercialization of Algal Biomass Through Applied R&D and Business Strategy

European Algae Biomass conference to be held April 24-25 in Vienna, Austria

During the afternoon of Tuesday 23rd April 2013 up to 30 conference attendees will receive a unique opportunity to visit Ecoduna's hanging gardens photobioreactor facility in Bruck an der Leitha, just a short drive from Vienna. There is no extra charge to attend the site visit, but spaces are limited and allocated on a first come first served basis. Please register your attendance for the site visit when booking for the conference.

Key Topics Include:

• Commercial market analysis & forecast
•  Strain selection & genetic engineering
•  The future for European algae biomass: view from the bioplastic, pharmaceuticals and human nutrition markets
• Algal culture systems: latest developments from laboratory & field
•  Harvesting, dewatering, drying & oil extraction: maximizing efficiency & reducing cost
• Commercial algae production: case study examples
•  Biofuel production & biorefining
• Algae-based CO2 capture
•  Algae as an investment opportunity: An investor’s viewpoint • The path from lab to commercialization 

Download Full Agenda
Conference Web Page

For more information, contact Dimitri Pavlyk
+44 (0) 207 981 2503
dpavlyk@acieu.co.uk

South Atlantic Phytoplankton Bloom

In this Envisat image, acquired on Dec. 2, 2011, a phytoplankton bloom swirls a figure-of-8 in the South Atlantic Ocean about 600 km east of the Falkland Islands. Different types and quantities of phytoplankton exhibit different colors, such as the blues and greens in this image. Earth-observing satellites like Envisat can monitor these algal blooms. Once a bloom begins, an ocean color sensor can make an initial identification of its chlorophyll pigment, and therefore its species and toxicity.

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/03/envisat-anniversary/?pid=3266

Source: Wired Science

View from space: Toxic algae bloom in Lake Erie

Landsat-5 satellite images acquired in early October, 2011 revealed the worst algae bloom North America’s Lake Erie has experienced in decades. The bloom is primarily microcystis aeruginosa, an algae that is toxic to mammals, according to the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory. The reasons for this year’s giant bloom are complex, say scientists, but might be related to a rainy spring and invasive mussels.

See pictures and more of the story at:

http://earthsky.org/water/view-from-space-toxic-algae-bloom-in-lake-erie
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Source: EarthSky.org Water Blog

Algal Turf Scrubbers

An article published in the June issue of BioScience describes the early scale-up stage of a new biotechnology with environmental benefits and possible commercial potential. Algal turf scrubbers are field-sized, water-treatment systems that can extract excess nutrients from streams, canals, and lakes polluted by agricultural, domestic, and some industrial runoff. They use sunlight as their principal source of energy and simultaneously restore oxygen levels. The devices work by pulsing contaminated water across algae that are allowed to grow on screens. Algal turf scrubbers produce waste suitable for use as a nitrogen- and phosphorus-rich fertilizer. Some algal turf scrubbers can even operate in open water, thus minimizing loss of agricultural land to the systems.

The BioScience article, by Walter H. Adey of the Smithsonian Institution, Patrick C. Kangas of the University of Maryland, and Walter Mulbry of the US Department of Agriculture, notes that the need to clean wastewater and various types of runoff contaminated with nitrogen and phosphorus is immediate in many places where natural waters are polluted.

The article stresses that algal turf scrubbing is not likely to ever be profitable just as a way of making a fuel crop. Algal turf scrubbing could become common if the economic value of nutrient removal can be applied to the cost of building and running the units. That might depend on public policy that imposes a predictable cost on pollution of natural waters.
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Source: NALMS Notes - June 2011
http://www.nalms./org

Newly Discovered Group of Algae Live in Both Fresh Water and Ocean

ScienceDaily (Jan. 21, 2011) — A team of biologists has discovered an entirely new group of algae living in a wide variety of marine and freshwater environments. This group of algae, which the researchers dubbed "rappemonads," have DNA that is distinctly different from that of other known algae. In fact, humans and mushrooms are more closely related to each other than rappemonads are to some other common algae (such as green algae). Based on their DNA analysis, the researchers believe that they have discovered not just a new species or genus, but a potentially large and novel group of microorganisms.

Read the rest at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120151633.htm

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Posted using BlogPress app on my iPhone

Most Abundant Food Source Disappearing

In oceans around the world, there has been a surprisingly large and extensive decline in phytoplankton -- the tiny algae that keep marine food webs afloat.

The drifting green flecks have been dying off for at least a century, with a staggering 40 percent decline since 1950, according to a new study.

Phytoplankton make up half of all plant matter around the globe, said marine ecologist Daniel Boyce, whose study appears this week in the journal

Nature. Its disappearance threatens the stability of climate, the well-being of fisheries and the overall health of the oceans.

"It's hard to really imagine phytoplankton could be so important because most people don't see them in their daily lives. They're microscopic and they live out at sea," said Boyce, of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada. "But everything that happens to them affects the entire marine food chain, including us."

Some recent satellite images have shown the ocean turning from green to blue as a result of phytoplankton declines, but those data stretch back only 13 years. Other studies have offered mixed results.

To get a more accurate picture and to look further into the past, Boyce and colleagues collected a half-million measurements of ocean clarity from a public data set that dated back to 1899.

Over the last century-plus, analyses showed, phytoplankton levels have dropped by one percent each year in eight out of 10 large ocean regions. The greatest decline occurred in areas around the poles, near the equator and in the open oceans. The rate of disappearance picked up after 1950, totaling a 40 percent drop-off since then.

"It's really big," said David Siegel, a marine scientist at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "I'm a little leery about how big that number is."

The scientists can't yet say what's causing the mass die-off of phytoplankton, but temperature data offer a clue. The declines were worst in places where the surface of the sea has warmed the most. Warmer ocean water limits the amount of nutrients that can get from the depths to the surface. Phytoplankton need those nutrients to live.

With less phytoplankton around, fish have less to eat. As the decline works its way up the food chain, fishermen will have less to catch and fish-eaters less to eat. Phytoplankton even affect climate by taking up carbon dioxide and absorbing heat.

"Everyone looks at blue oceans and goes: 'Isn't that beautiful?'" Siegel said. "But a blue ocean is full of nothing. You really want something, and we're only making more of the blue ocean."

Source: Discovery News
http://news.discovery.com/earth/phytoplankton-oceans-food-web.htmlOcean's

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs

Harmful algal blooms, or HABs, in the new limno-lingo, represent a serious issue. When I was in lake school many years ago, we knew that certain algae could be hazardous. But these were marine algae that caused red tides or were rare events in freshwater, and then usually in cow ponds. Now HABs are front and center at many lakes.

The EPA report, Scientific Assessment of Freshwater Harmful Algal Blooms (available from EPA as a PDF) is the latest compendium of HAB science and is the techno-tell-all of what we know and what we no not know about HABs. We know for example that:

“Freshwater HAB toxins can have a broad range of negative impacts on humans, animals, and aquatic ecosystems. Many cyanobacteria can produce neurotoxic, hepatotoxic, dermatotoxic, or other bioactive compounds, and blooms of toxigenic cyanobacteria pose a particular threat if they occur in drinking water sources.”

A lot of new words and jargon that say in essence that these blooms can’t be good.

Seriously, as lake managers, we cannot ignore HABs. HABs pose threats beyond what we have traditionally dealt with as lake managers. HABs threaten water supplies, human health, and fish and wildlife.

What we don’t know or at least don’t know well includes risk assessment, analytical methods, toxicity pathways, or the appropriate response framework. The report provides an assessment and roadmap to better attend to these needs.

Of course, if we confront lakes experiencing HABs, we cannot wait for the answers to all the unknowns. We can fall back on our tried-and-true approaches to lake management - lake management basics – which ought to be relied upon to minimize and manage the impacts of HABs.

This means priority ought to be given to nutrient management. Specifically,

• Top priority for watershed protection for those lakes not yet affected by HABs
• For lakes already experiencing HABs, watershed rehabilitation may be too slow, so in addition, we should initiate in-lake nutrient reduction methods.
• In cases where nutrient reduction may not be timely or sufficient, other in-lake techniques should be used.
  

These strategies and techniques are explained fully in the textbook, Restoration and Management of Lakes and Reservoirs or the manual, Managing Lakes and Reservoirs – both available in the NALMS Bookstore (currently off-line). You may also purchase Managing Lakes and Reservoirs through Amazon.com using the Lake Stewardship Store.

Article by Dick Osgood, President of the North American Lake Management Society (NALMS), used by permission. Read the latest NALMS' newsletter online.

High Density Vertical Bioreactor for growing algae (with video)

High Density Vertical Bioreactor (with Video) - Valcent Products, Inc.

The Holy Grail in the renewable energy sector has been to create a clean, green process which uses only light, water and air to create fuel. Valcent's HDVB algae-to-biofuel technology mass produces algae, vegetable oil which is suitable for refining into a cost-effective, non-polluting biodiesel. The algae derived fuel will be an energy efficient replacement for fossil fuels and can be used in any diesel powered vehicle or machinery. In addition, 90% by weight of the algae is captured carbon dioxide, which is 'sequestered' by this process and so contributes significantly to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Valcent has commissioned the world's first commercial-scale bioreactor pilot project at its test facility in El Paso, Texas.

Click on the title for the complete story and link to a video on the process.

Algae: Another way to grow edible oils

Michael Kanellos, for News.com
Published: January 25, 2008

In the future, french fries might be infused with all the brimming, healthy flavor of oil produced by algae.

Biotechnology company Solazyme, which is developing techniques for converting vats of algae into car and plane fuel, will also exploit its manufacturing processes to make oils for other industries, including the food industry.

The company is already working on edible oils, Harrison Dillon, Solazyme's president, told CNET News.com. Ideally, these oils could provide greater health benefits, cost less, and be more environmentally friendly to grow than current cooking oils.

"We can provide tailor-made oils," Dillon said.

The ability to shift into new markets largely revolves around the nature of algae itself and the processes employed by the company. First, the creatures: algae are seriously greasy. The North Sea oil field and other large deposits are the fossilized remnants of algal blooms from hundreds of millions of years ago. They weren't formed by dinosaurs.

"These organisms have the most efficient pathways on the planet for oil production," added Jonathan Wolfson, Solazyme's CEO. "Algae are the original oil producers."

Additionally, more complex plants evolved from algae. As a result, the basic biochemistry for getting algae to produce oil remains similar to what's seen in rapeseed or soy plants. Through selective breeding and other techniques, strains of algae can be induced to generate oils with very specific properties (such as a certain fatty acid content, smoke point, or viscosity).

Algae on a sugar binge
Meanwhile, Solazyme has come up with a fermentation process that the company claims allows it to produce large amounts of biomass rapidly. The company inserts algae (typically one species) into a vat, dumps in a bunch of sugar, and then controls the pressure and other environmental factors inside the vat to induce the algae to metabolize the sugar into body oil.

Competitors such as GreenFuel Technologies or LiveFuels grow algae through photosynthesis. Solazyme claims that fermentation is much more efficient.

Click on the Title to view the complete CNET article.

Invasive Algae Found in Additional Fishing Waters - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation

Invasive Algae Found in Additional Fishing Waters - NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation:

"Invasive Algae Found in Additional Fishing Waters The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced the presence of the invasive algae didymo (Didymosphenia geminata) in two additional fishing water bodies in New York State. Samples taken by DEC have confirmed that didymo is present in the east branch of the Delaware River. In addition, may be present on the west branch of the Delaware River as well. These are the latest recorded incidents of this aquatic nuisance species-also called 'rock snot'-in New York State. Early this summer, didymo's presence was confirmed in a section of the Batten Kill in Washington County."

Click the Title for the complete article

Didymo Found in Lower Section of Batten Kill in Washington County NY

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has confirmed that didymo is present in a section of the Batten Kill in Washington County. It is the first known presence of this aquatic nuisance algae--also called "rock snot"--in New York State.

Unlike many other aquatic nuisance plants, Didymosphenia geminata grows on the bottom of flowing and still waters. It can develop thick mats even in fast-flowing trout streams. In its presence, fishing becomes difficult, the abundance of bottom-dwelling organisms declines, and trout and other fish that feed on those organisms also decline.

Didymo clings to a rock that was submerged

Meandering for 29 miles from Vermont to the Hudson River, the Batten Kill is a celebrated trout stream, as well as a popular watercourse for kayaking, canoeing and tubing. Didymo, which resembles rotting cardboard when exposed and dried, was observed in a section around and downstream of Route 22 where it crosses near the Village of Salem. Vermont also has confirmed the presence of didymo in a section just upstream of the border with New York State.

The microscopic algae cling unseen to waders, boots, boats, lures, hooks, sinkers, fishing line, and other fishing gear, and remain viable for several weeks under even slightly moist conditions. Absorbent items--for example, the felt-soled waders and wading boots commonly used by stream anglers--require thorough attention as discussed below. Anglers, kayakers and canoeists, boaters and jet skiers can unknowingly spread didymo.

Read the entire article, including tips for prevention and control at http://www.dec.ny.gov/environmentdec/36890.html
Source: Environment DEC, NYS DEC's online newsletter

NALMS Blue Green Algae Initiative

NALMS has taken a leadership role on the issue of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) toxicity with their Blue Green Algae Initiative. Their new website contains information on conditions favoring blooms, human/animal health issues, toxicity, and much more.

Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) blooms have been occurring throughout the world for thousands of years. Cyanobacteria produce a number of nuisance compounds, including those that are toxic or cause severe taste-and-odor problems in drinking water supplies. Cyanobacterial toxins can make drinking water and recreational use of water unsafe. Animals die yearly as a result of cyanotoxins, and though human death is not common, many people experience symptoms indicative of cyanotoxin exposure. Very little is known about the long-term side affects of ingestion of cyanotoxins, so alhtough there is a guideline set by WHO for safe concentrations, minimal concentrations could cause an effect over time.

Visit the NALMS Blue Green Algae Initiative page at http://www.nalms.org/Resources/BlueGreenInitiative/Overview.htm

U.N. says number of ocean "dead zones" rising fast - Yahoo! News

U.N. says number of ocean "dead zones" rising fast
By Daniel Wallis Thu Oct 19, 9:19 AM ET

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The number of "dead zones" in the world's oceans may have increased by a third in just two years, threatening fish stocks and the people who depend on them, the U.N. Environment Program said on Thursday.

Fertilizers, sewage, fossil fuel burning and other pollutants have led to a doubling in the number of oxygen-deficient coastal areas every decade since the 1960s.

Now experts estimate there are 200 so-called ocean dead zones, compared with 150 two years ago.

"Some successes are being scored but in other areas -- like sewage, nutrients from fertilizer run off, animal wastes and atmospheric pollution; sediment mobilization and marine litter -- the problems are intensifying," UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner said in a statement.

read the rest of the article at http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061019/sc_nm/environment_deadzones_dc_1

Oil from Algae?

Ever wondered if you could get OIL from ALGAE? Do you wonder now that I mentioned it? Check out the "Oil From Algae" Yahoo Group described below:

oil_from_algae : oil from algae: "Is it feasible to grow algae, harvest the oils, and use the algae oil for fuel? Discuss techniques, research results, and future directions. "

Thanks to OfA group moderator (?) Tom Catino for the heads-up on this one.

Algae returns to Great Lakes

Algae returns to Great Lakes: "Algae returns to Great Lakes

By JOHN FLESHER, Associated Press Writer
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. - Call it the return of the green slime.

Back in the 1960s, foul gobs of algae along Great Lakes shorelines made swimmers and sunbathers miserable before a crackdown on phosphorus pollution repelled the invasion.

Now, the algae are mounting a comeback and controlling it may be tougher this time, according to the Michigan Environmental Council, an umbrella organization for a host of environmental and public interest organizations in the state.

'The nightmare may be poised to repeat itself,' the council said in a statement accompanying a report released Wednesday.

Algae blooms have been on the rise since the mid-1990s in parts of all of the Great Lakes except Lake Superior, whose icy waters are not as hospitable to the slimy aquatic plants."