Algal Blooms - Definition, Glossary, Details - Oilgae


Algal Blooms

An algal bloom or marine bloom or water bloom is a rapid increase in the population of algae in an aquatic system. Algal blooms may occur in freshwater as well as marine environments. Typically only one or a few phytoplankton species are involved and some blooms may be recognized by discoloration of the water resulting from the high density of pigmented cells. Although there is no officially recognized threshold level, algae can be considered to be blooming at concentrations of hundreds to thousands of cells per milliliter, depending on the causative species. Source




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What are Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs)? - The primary objective of this site is to serve as a comprehensive resource for information about harmful algal blooms.

Algal blooms - Algal blooms are dense congregations of algae that can form over lakes, dams or streams. Factors that foster algal bloom formation and growth include:
  • temperature
  • light
  • pH
  • the availability of nutrients
  • lack of competition from other micro-organisms, and
  • the absence of predators.

An algal bloom is a relatively rapid increase in the population of (usually) phytoplankton algae in an aquatic system. Algal blooms can occur in coastal and marine waters as well as freshwater environments. Typically only one or a few species are involved. Although there is no officially recognized threshold level, algae can be considered to be blooming at concentrations of hundreds to thousands of cells per milliliter, though concentrations may reach millions of cells per milliliter - Source



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