ArticlePDF Available

Abstract and Figures

Author Posting. © Oceanography Society, 2005. This article is posted here by permission of Oceanography Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Oceanography 18, 2 (2005): 238-245. More than a decade ago, the U.S. approach to research on harmful algal blooms (HABs) was uncoordinated and modest in scale. Research groups were few and their work was piecemeal and constrained by small budgets that fluctuated with the sporadic blooms that would occur. There were virtually no U.S. government laboratories involved in HAB research. Funding for academic scientists was largely available through competitions with the entire oceanographic community since there were no targeted funding programs for HABs. This situation changed dramatically with the formulation of Marine Biotoxins and Harmful Algal Blooms: A National Plan (Anderson et al., 1993). This plan, the result of a workshop involving academic and federal scientists, agency officials, and industry representatives identified major impediments to the goal of science-based management of resources affected by HABs, and made recommendations on the steps needed to remove those impediments. Funding to support the development of the National Plan was provided by the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science (CSCOR and CCEHBR).
Content may be subject to copyright.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005
238
HARMFUL ALGAL BLOOMS
HARRNESS
HARRNESS
THE U.S. HAB COMMUNITY STEPS FORWARD
More than a decade ago, the U.S. approach to research on
harmful algal blooms (HABs) was uncoordinated and modest
in scale. Research groups were few and their work was piece-
meal and constrained by small budgets that fl uctuated with the
sporadic blooms that would occur. There were virtually no U.S.
government laboratories involved in HAB research. Funding
for academic scientists was largely available through competi-
tions with the entire oceanographic community since there
were no targeted funding programs for HABs. This situation
changed dramatically with the formulation of Marine Biotoxins
and Harmful Algal Blooms: A National Plan (Anderson et al.,
1993). This plan, the result of a workshop involving academic
and federal scientists, agency offi cials, and industry representa-
tives identifi ed major impediments to the goal of science-based
management of resources affected by HABs, and made recom-
mendations on the steps needed to remove those impediments.
The National Plan served as the foundation for the develop-
ment of a highly productive U.S. national program on HABs.
As a result of this program, the situation now is markedly dif-
ferent from that described above. A large group of individuals
and specialized teams throughout the country now conduct
research on HABs of all types. Research efforts, though not yet
fully comprehensive, cover many of the important disciplines
in HAB science. Funding has increased substantially, and a
number of HAB-specifi c funding programs now exist that pro-
vide support for both academic and federal scientists. Several
of these programs support multi-investigator studies of region-
al HAB phenomena over signifi cant scales using large, oceano-
graphic vessels and the most up-to-date measurement technol-
BY DONALD M. ANDERSON
AND JOHN S. RAMSDELL
A Framework for
HAB Research and
Monitoring in the
United States for
the Next Decade
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005
238
is article has been published in Oceanography, Volume 18, Number 2, a quarterly journal of  e Oceanography S ociety.
Copyright 2005 by  e Oceanography Society. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any portion of this article by photo-
copy machine, reposting, or other means without prior authorization of  e Oceanography Society is strictly prohibited.
Send all correspondence to: info@tos.org or  e Oceanography Society, PO Box 1931, Rockville, MD 20849-1931, USA.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005 239
ogies (e.g., Walsh and Steidinger, 2001; Townsend et al., 2001;
Marchetti et al., 2004; Trainer and Suddleson, this issue). The
HAB community has also become politically mature, delivering
a unifi ed message to legislators responsible for authorizations
and appropriations that directly affect the national program.
The 1993 National Plan is showing its age, however. Some
of its recommendations have been fulfi lled, while others re-
main partially or completely unaddressed. Concurrently, the
nature and extent of the U.S. HAB problem changed with the
emergence of several new poisoning syndromes, the expan-
sion of known problems into new areas, and the identifi cation
of a variety of new HAB impacts and affected resources. Fur-
thermore, while new scientifi c understanding taught us that
HABs and the toxins they produce are complex in their mode
of action and that the ecosystems in which they proliferate are
equally complex, decision-making and management systems
did not change to refl ect that complexity. Likewise, many new
tools to detect HAB cells and their toxins have been developed,
but are not fully tested or incorporated into existing research
and management programs. These and other considerations
led to the decision to revise and update the National Plan. Here
we describe the new national plan or framework, Harmful Algal
Research and Response: A National Environmental Science Strat-
egy 2005-2015 (HARRNESS, 2005), which will guide U.S. HAB
research and monitoring well into the future (Figure 1). This
plan is clearly designed for the U.S. HAB problem and HAB
community, but the process under which it was developed and
the program elements on which it is based should be of interest
and value to those attempting to develop regional or national
programs elsewhere in the world.
Figure 1.  e HARRNESS report
is available in hard copy through
the U.S. National Offi ce for Ma-
rine Biotoxins and Harmful Al-
gal Blooms at the Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, and
electronically at http://www.
whoi.edu/redtide/nationplan/
nationplan.html.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005 239
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005
240
THE PROCESS TO DEVELOP
THE NATIONAL PLAN
The revision of the U.S. National Plan
occurred against the backdrop of a surge
of Congressional interest to manage the
promise of the oceans and the threats
to them. The Oceans Act of 2000 au-
thorized a U.S. Commission on Ocean
Policy. The fi nal report of this Commis-
sion, An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Cen-
tury (U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy,
2004), calls for a new governance frame-
work, more investment in marine scienc-
es, and a new stewardship ethic to halt
a decline in the health (or condition) of
the oceans and the coasts. HARRNESS
builds on the Ocean Blueprint by elabo-
rating many of the themes that touch on
HABs and taking action to implement
a new framework of representation to
coordinate activities, target funding, and
achieve a vision of managing HABs in
the coming decade.
A steering committee charged with
maintaining the utmost transparency
and community involvement guided the
development of HARRNESS. By offering
a variety of opportunities for stakehold-
ers to provide input, the new plan was
vetted by the broadest possible cross sec-
tion of the HAB community. This strat-
egy strengthened its use as a guide for
implementing national HAB programs.
The Steering Committee solicited com-
munity participation via a web-based
survey yielding more than a thousand
targeted comments. It also convened an
open-forum discussion of 200 partici-
pants at a national HAB symposium,
and conducted specialist analyses. For
the latter, subgroups within the Steering
Committee drafted four “white papers”
based on the web survey results and
community discussion, focusing on the
topics of toxins, bloom ecology and dy-
namics, food webs and fi sheries, and in-
frastructure. These synthesis documents
were subsequently submitted for critical
review by an advisory committee con-
sisting of a broad spectrum of program
managers, regulatory offi cials, scientists,
and industry representatives.
A noteworthy development during
this planning process was the decision to
include freshwater HAB problems in the
new national plan. Prior activities had
focused exclusively on marine HABs,
which included those in brackish waters,
but not the harmful blooms that occur
in freshwater systems. Recognizing that
the freshwater HAB problem is serious
and growing, and that many elements of
research on the causative organisms and
the toxins they produce are the same as
those undertaken for marine HABs, the
Steering Committee decided to expand
the focus in HARRNESS.
The Steering Committee then identi-
ed a panel of scientists and managers
to address 45 sub-specialties of expertise
at a fi ve-day workshop in Charleston,
South Carolina. Discussions commenced
with the Advisory Committee’s review of
four critical topics outlined in the white
papers, with public health and socioeco-
nomic impacts emerging as a stand alone
areas of focus. During the workshop,
HARRNESS was formulated as a unify-
ing strategy or framework to guide U.S.
HAB research over the next decade. The
nal draft was reviewed by the workshop
participants and the Advisory Committee
to insure that the ideas and needs of the
entire HAB community were captured.
HARRNESS is only a roadmap; it is a
concept of how the national HAB pro-
gram should be structured and operated.
To achieve a fully operational program,
an implementation plan is now required
to outline the programmatic, fi nancial,
and political steps needed to bring
HARRNESS to its full potential. Our
goal is to formulate these implementa-
tion steps with the assistance of agency
program managers and others who are
most familiar with the actions needed
to turn ideas into funded programs and
program elements.
COMMUNITY CONSENSUS FOR
HAB RESEARCH AND RESPONSE
The HAB research and response needs
of the U.S. scientifi c and management
communities are many. New tools and
new understanding are critically needed
to detect, analyze, predict, and manage
HAB outbreaks and the associated ill-
nesses or harm that they cause. Progress
in HAB research will require steady and
sustained advances in the development
of technologies and methodologies in a
cost effective fashion. This research will
also require a common infrastructure
to create and supply toxin standards,
reference materials, cultures, genetic in-
formation, and other commonly needed
items. Oversight and organizational sup-
port are needed in the form of a national
committee with rotating membership
and leadership. HARRNESS has been
designed to address all of these needs.
At the conceptual level, HARRNESS
is a proposed organization of initiatives
Donald M. Anderson (danderson@whoi.
edu) is Senior Scientist, Biology Department,
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution,
Woods Hole, MA, USA. John S. Ramsdell is
Chief, Coastal Research Branch, Center for
Coastal Environmental Health and Biomo-
lecular Research, NOAA, National Ocean
Service, Charleston, SC, USA.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005 241
Facilitating
Partners Stakeholders
PROGRAM FOCI
Bloom Ecology and Dynamics
Toxins and eir Effects
Food Webs and Fisheries
Public Health and Socioeconomic Impacts
PROGRAM APPROACHES
Targeted Investigations
Regional Studies
Inter-regional Comparative Investigations
Mitigation and Control
INFRASTRUCTURE
Reference Materials
Data Management
Education and Outreach
Shared Facilities
National HAB Committee
HARRNESS
and programs that identify, evaluate, and
address current and evolving needs asso-
ciated with HABs and their impacts. Each
of four major areas of research focus de-
ned in HARRNESS (outlined below un-
der “Program Foci and Approaches”) will
be addressed by facilitating partners (fed-
eral, state, and local agencies) and stake-
holders (national organizations, industry,
and citizen groups). The approaches will
include small- and large-scale research
programs, inter-regional comparisons,
focused efforts on mitigation and con-
trol, as well as broad oversight and co-
ordination, including education and
outreach. Development of the necessary
support infrastructure will be key to the
success of HARRNESS, and will ensure
that the strategy is responsive to the di-
verse needs of scientists, managers, pub-
lic health coordinators, and educators.
The HARRNESS framework is shown
in Figure 2. HARRNESS will function
through a number of components or
program elements. This framework
highlights disciplinary priorities and
requirements, and lays out the differ-
ent pathways by which these priorities
may be achieved. Some, such as research
funding programs, are in place, but may
require enhancement and new direc-
tions. Other components are new and
will need to be established.
PROGRAM OVERSIGHT
The fi rst major program element pro-
vides for oversight and coordination
through a National HAB Committee
designed to represent the U.S. HAB com-
munity at a national level. The goals
and responsibilities of the National
HAB Committee, are to: (1) raise the
visibility and understanding of HAB is-
sues nationally; (2) garner support for
HARRNESS among users, researchers,
and agencies; (3) facilitate the imple-
mentation of HARRNESS; (4) interface
with related National and international
initiatives, such as Global Ecology and
Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms
(GEOHAB), Integrated Ocean Observ-
ing System (IOOS), Global Ocean Ob-
serving System (GOOS), Consortium
of Universities for the Advancement of
Hydrologic Sciences, Inc. (CUAHSI), Na-
tional Ecological Observatory Network
(NEON) and Ocean Research Interac-
tive Observatory Networks (ORION);
and (5) form ad hoc technical advisory
committees, as needed, to address issues
or requests. This committee will have
rotating, interdisciplinary membership
made up of individuals with expertise
in priority research areas. The National
HAB Committee is to be: (1) community
based and geographically balanced; (2)
recognizable by government agencies;
(3) knowledgeable about organizational
and programmatic issues; and (4) scien-
tifi cally and technically credible.
Program Foci and Approaches
There are four program foci or theme ar-
eas within HARRNESS: Bloom Ecology
and Dynamics, Toxins and Their Effects,
Food Webs and Fisheries, and Public
Health and Socioeconomic Impacts (Fig-
ure 3). Each of the Program Foci shares
a need for a suite of Program Approach-
es—a set of management and research
activities that are directed at various
scales of the HAB problem. These in-
clude highly focused or targeted research
studies, regional and inter-regional scale
Figure 2. Diagrammatic representation of the HARRNESS program, showing the organizational and
oversight elements as well as the program foci, program approaches, and infrastructure.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005
242
"LOOM%COLOGYAND$YNAMICS
0URIFIEDTOXINSAREESSENTIALTOIMPLEMENTASSAYSANDCALIBRATEINSTRUMENTSUSEDTOMONITORTOXINSINWATEROR
SEAFOOD4OXINASSAYSANDDETECTIONMETHODSARETHEFRONTLINETOOLSFORRESEARCHERSANDMANAGERS4HE PRIORITY
AREASFOR THE NEAR FUTUREARE
%STABLISHMENTOFREFERENCE MATERIAL INFRASTRUCTURE
0URIFICATIONOF TOXINREFERENCEMATERIALS
)NSTRUMENTANALYSISANDBIOLOGICALASSAYS
"IOSYNTHESISANDMETABOLISMOFTHETOXINS
)NTEGRATEDTOXINEFFECTSANDMECHANISMSOFSUSCEPTIBILITY
4OXINSAND4HEIR%FFECTS
7HILE IT IS RECOGNIZED THAT HARMFUL ALGAE AND THEIR TOXINS CAN HAVE LARGE IMPACTS ON ECOSYSTEMS THERE IS
MUCH YET TO BE LEARNED CONCERNING THE TRANSFER AND PERVASIVENESS OF TOXINS IN FOOD WEBS AND HOW TROPHIC
STRUCTUREMAYBEIMPACTEDBY SUCHEVENTS4HEPRIORITY AREASFORTHENEAR FUTUREARE
)MPACTSOF(!"SONFOODWEBS
)MPACTSOF(!"SONAQUACULTUREANDWILDHARVEST
#APACITYFORFORECASTING(!"S
4OPDOWNCONTROLANDCHANGESINTROPHICSTRUCTUREBY(!"S
$ETRIMENTALEFFECTSOF (!"SONHIGHERVERTEBRATES
&OOD7EBSAND&ISHERIES
4HEDEMANDFORSEAFOODASPARTOFHEALTHYDIETSANDTHEGLOBALIZATIONOFTRADEPOTENTIALLYEXPANDTHEGEOGRAPHIC
BOUNDARIESFORHUMANEXPOSUREANDILLNESS4HEECONOMICANDPUBLICHEALTHIMPACTSOF(!"SCANBEPROFOUND
4HEPRIORITY AREAS FOR THE NEARFUTUREARE
3OCIOECONOMICIMPACTSOF(!"S
3EAFOODSAFETYIMPACTS
0UBLICHEALTHIMPACTS
2ECREATIONALAND DRINKINGWATERIMPACTS
0UBLIC(EALTHAND3OCIOECONOMIC)MPACTS
-UCHPROGRESSHASBEENMADEOVERTHEPASTSEVERALYEARSINMANYASPECTSOFBLOOMECOLOGY
ANDDYNAMICS9ETTHEUNDERSTANDINGOFTHEINTERACTIONSOF(!"SWITHGRAZERSTHESUBLETHAL
EFFECTS OF (!"S ON COMMUNITY DYNAMICS AND THE APPLICATION OF THESE DATA IN DEVELOPING PREDICTIVE
MODELSIS JUSTBEGINNING4HEPRIORITYAREAS FOR THENEARFUTUREARE
/RGANISMDETECTIONANDASSESSMENT OFHARMFULSTATUS
(ARMFULALGALGENETICSANDPHYSIOLOGY
#OMMUNITYECOLOGYANDECOSYSTEMDYNAMICS
0REVENTIONCONTROLANDMITIGATION
Figure 3.  e four program foci or theme areas within HARRNESS.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005 243
investigations, and policy-making and
resource management activities towards
mitigation and control.
Infrastructure
Progress will be facilitated through the
development of activities and services
required by multiple program foci. To-
ward this end, several critical commu-
nity-wide activities must be established:
(1) provision and quality assurance of
reference materials of various types (e.g.,
preserved specimens, live cultures, mo-
lecular probes, certifi ed toxin standards);
(2) access to data management and data
visualization tools; (3) a national educa-
tion and outreach effort; and (4) shared
facilities (e.g., culture collections, a na-
tional web page). In this latter context,
the U.S. HAB community has devel-
oped many regional capacities to collect
HAB and HAB-related information, but
sustained support for these facilities is
required. Furthermore, some labora-
tories have specifi c expertise for one or
two types of techniques, species and/or
toxins. When appropriately marshaled
or coordinated, these laboratories could
serve as national resources as well as
training centers for the transfer of cer-
tain technologies and development of
new experts in the fi eld. They also pro-
vide emergency response capabilities.
IMPLEMENTATION:
THE NEXT STEP FORWARD
To meet the needs and recommenda-
tions of the HAB community and the
proposed HARRNESS plan, a combina-
tion of existing programs, restructured
programs, and new programs and activi-
ties will be required. Funding programs
evolve with time, as do the problems
they are designed to address, and new
partners are needed to address emerg-
ing topic areas. A few examples of pos-
sible modifi cation and development of
the U.S. HAB program are given here,
recognizing that these are suggestions
and that alternative mechanisms may
be developed that accomplish the same
goals. One prime example is the highly
successful Ecology and Oceanography of
Harmful Algal Blooms (ECOHAB) pro-
gram, which has gradually broadened
the focus outlined in its initial science
plan of a decade ago (ECOHAB, 1995).
The original emphasis was exclusively
the ecology and oceanography of HABs
through the funding of large-scale re-
gional and small-scale studies. However,
the program has evolved to support
targeted research on food webs and
sheries, toxins and detection methods,
prevention, control and mitigation, and
socioeconomics. Re-evaluation of the
direction and priorities of this program
within the context of other HAB-re-
lated programs and needs would seem
to be worthwhile. If it chooses to retain
its ecology and oceanography focus,
ECOHAB might consider a change that
emphasizes “comparative systems, as
outlined in the international GEOHAB
program (GEOHAB, 1998, 2001).
Two relatively new programs (the
Centers for Oceans and Human Health
[COHH] initiative of the National Insti-
tutes of Environmental Health Sciences
[NIEHS] and the National Science Foun-
dation [NSF], and the National Oce-
anic and Atmospheric Administration’s
[NOAA] Oceans and Human Health
Initiative [OHHI]) are being enthusiasti-
cally received by the scientifi c, manage-
ment, and public health communities.
They fi ll an important niche by creating
linkages between members of the ocean
sciences and biomedical communities
to help both groups address the pub-
lic health aspects of HABs. Although it
is too soon to evaluate the effi cacy of
these programs established in 2003 and
2004, respectively, it is noteworthy that
program resources are sparsely divided
among a small number of critical sci-
entifi c domains. The COHH focuses on
HABs, infectious diseases, and marine
natural products, whereas OHHI centers
include studies of these subjects in addi-
tion to chemical pollutants, coastal wa-
ter quality, beach safety, seafood quality,
sentinel species as indicators of both po-
tential human health risks, and human
impacts on marine systems. With this in
mind, some of the future goals of HAR-
RNESS are to: (1) increase the number
of COHH centers through the NIEHS/
NSF program; (2) expand NIEHS/NSF
HAB research funding to allow individ-
ual investigators to obtain independent
funding to work with existing centers or
on OHH issues without any center affi li-
ation; and (3) enhance coordination be-
tween NOAA OHHI centers, the NOAA
extramural OHHI research program, the
NIEHS/NSF COHH program, and other
HAB research programs.
Even with such actions, several of
HARRNESS’s recommendations are not
adequately addressed by existing pro-
grams. As a result, the HAB community
needs to work with Congressional staff
and agency program managers to create
new programs, and to modify existing
ones, where appropriate. For example,
a separate program on HABs and food-
web impacts could focus resources on
this important topic area in a way that
is not presently possible through ECO-
HAB. Chemistry and toxicology of
HABs, the underlying basis to the ad-
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005
244
verse consequences of HABs, receives
only piecemeal funding through sup-
port of other HAB efforts and requires
focused attention and a targeted funding
initiative. Likewise, the practical aspects
of HAB prevention, control, and mitiga-
tion are also presently, but inadequately,
included in ECOHAB. Recognizing this
latter need, Congress has mandated
a separate program for HAB Preven-
tion, Control, and Management in the
legislation reauthorizing the Harmful
Algal Bloom and Hypoxia Research and
Control Act of 1998 (HABHRCA). The
strong Congressional support behind
this program element is further seen
in a section of HABHRCA that directs
NOAA to “identify innovative response
measures for the prevention, control,
and mitigation of harmful algal blooms
and identify steps needed for their devel-
opment and implementation.
With the exception of the Great Lakes,
which fall under NOAAs jurisdiction,
freshwater systems that are impacted
by HABs have not been comprehen-
sively addressed in ECOHAB, MERHAB
(Monitoring and Event Response for
Harmful Algal Blooms), or the Ocean
and Human Health (OHH) HAB pro-
grams. A freshwater component to ECO-
HAB has been mandated in the newly
reauthorized HABHRCA. Freshwater
HABs are an important focus within
HARRNESS, and therefore targeted (and
separate) funding initiatives on freshwa-
ter HABs are needed.
The program oversight, research foci,
and infrastructure of HARRNESS will
require coordinated efforts and strong
community involvement if full pro-
gram implementation is to be achieved.
To move the process forward, the Na-
tional HAB Committee will be charged
with preparation and distribution of an
implementation plan for HARRNESS.
The HARRNESS Implementation Plan
will prioritize the recommendations of
HARRNESS and specify the steps and as-
sociated funding mechanisms needed to
accomplish these goals. It will be a chal-
lenge to not only sustain the interest and
commitments of those agencies and pro-
gram managers already involved with the
Figure 4. With HARRNESS fully implemented, the vision for research and manage-
ment in 2015 includes expanded monitoring with automated and rapid technologies
and improved models for predicting bloom events.
Oceanography Vol.18, No.2, June 2005 245
national HAB program as it exists, but to
bring new partners into the program as
well. This is one area where the experi-
ence gained in creating and shepherding
programs such as ECOHAB, MERHAB,
and OHH through Congress and the
federal agencies over the last decade will
be invaluable. The U.S. HAB community
has learned how to justify and defend its
programs within the federal government,
and this political involvement will surely
be needed as HARRNESS moves forward.
THE BENEFITS OF HARRNESS
IMPLEMENTATION
HARRNESS implementation will yield
many benefi ts for the public health and
management communities as well as re-
search scientists. It is recognized that full
implementation will require foresighted
coordination among funding agencies
and a sustained and carefully targeted in-
fusion of funds. The benefi ts from HAR-
RNESS relate to specifi c aspects of the
currently impaired ecological health of
our aquatic ecosystems and threatened
public health, and these will be achieved
through the cross linking of science and
management. With HARRNESS fully
implemented, the environmental and
socioeconomic impacts of the HAB
problem a decade from now will be dis-
cernibly different from today (Figure 4).
The program is ambitious and the chal-
lenge signifi cant, but the success of the
1993 National Plan shows us that coordi-
nated planning and program support by
a unifi ed scientifi c community can lead
to great progress and major benefi ts to
society and science.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Several hundred scientists and manag-
ers, from a wide array of different fi elds,
contributed to the extensive knowledge
base on which this science strategy is
based. Thanks are due to the entire U.S.
HAB research and monitoring com-
munity for identifying critical needs
and formulating the vision needed to
advance research and monitoring on
algal toxins and harmful algal blooms.
Special acknowledgement is due to the
National Plan Scientifi c Steering Com-
mittee for many critical discussions,
and Patricia Glibert, Rhonda Kranz,
and Jane Hawkey for distilling and de-
signing much of the information and
the graphics used for this article. Fund-
ing to support the development of the
National Plan was provided by the Na-
tional Centers for Coastal Ocean Science
(CSCOR and CCEHBR). The National
Ocean Service (NOS) does not approve,
recommend, or endorse any proprietary
product or material mentioned in this
publication. No reference shall be made
to NOS, or to this publication furnished
by NOS, in any advertising or sales pro-
motion which would indicate or imply
that NOS approves, recommends, or
endorses any proprietary product or
proprietary material mentioned herein
or which has as its purpose any intent to
cause directly or indirectly the advertised
product to be used or purchased because
of NOS publication. This is contribution
No. 11290 from the Woods Hole Ocean-
ographic Institution.
REFERENCES
Anderson, D.M., S.B. Galloway, and J.D. Joseph.
1993. Marine Biotoxins and Harmful Algae: A
National Plan. Technical Report WHOI-93-02.
Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods
Hole, MA.
ECOHAB. 1995. The Ecology and Oceanography
of Harmful Algal Blooms: A National Research
Agenda. Anderson, D.M, ed. Woods Hole
Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA,
66 pp.
GEOHAB. 1998. The Global Ecology and Oceanog-
raphy of Harmful Algae Blooms. A Plan for Co-
ordinated Scientifi c Research and Co-operation
to Develop International Capabilities for Assess-
ment, Prediction and Mitigation. Asian Natural
Environmental Science Center, the University of
Tokyo, Japan, 43 pp.
GEOHAB. 2001. Global Ecology and Oceanography
of Harmful Algal Blooms, Science Plan. P. Glibert
and G. Pitcher, eds. SCOR and IOC, Baltimore
and Paris, 86 pp.
HARNESS. 2005. Harmful Algal Research and Re-
sponse: A National Environmental Science Strat-
egy 2005-2015, Ramsdell, J.S., D.M. Anderson,
and P.M. Glibert, eds. Ecological Society of
America, Washington D.C., 82 pp.
Marchetti, A., V.L. Trainer, and P.J. Harrison. 2004.
Environmental conditions and phytoplank-
ton dynamics associated with Pseudo-nitzschia
abundance and domoic acid in the Juan de Fuca
eddy. Marine Ecology Progress Series 281:1-12.
Townsend, D.W., N.R. Pettigrew, and A.C. Thomas.
2001. Offshore blooms of the red tide dinofl a-
gellate, Alexandrium sp., in the Gulf of Maine.
Continental Shelf Research 21:347-369.
Walsh, J.J., and K.A. Steidinger. 2001. Saharan dust
and Florida red tides: The cyanophyte con-
nection. Journal of Geophysical Research 106
(C6):11597-11612.
U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy. 2004. An Ocean
Blueprint for the 21st Century. Washington, D.C.
The program is ambitious and the challenge significant,
but the success of the 1993 National Plan shows us
that coordinated planning and program support by
a unified scientific community can lead to great
progress and major benefits to society and science.
... Despite this usually beneficial role, some microalgal taxa produce toxic or noxious substances that can disrupt plankton community structure or function, and result in significant ecological damage, economic loss, and human health effects [2]. Detecting, predicting and ultimately preventing these harmful algal blooms (HABs) are presently major foci in environmental plankton biology [3]. ...
... Early application of antibodies for the identification of algae involved the use of polyclonal antibodies and epifluorescence microscopy to identify several minute eukaryotic and prokaryotic microalgae [3], [14]- [17]. These approaches have improved in recent years to include the use of monoclonal antibodies, and indirect detection techniques that provide the potential to dramatically increase the speed of analysis [18], [19]. ...
Article
Full-text available
Aureococcus anophagefferens, a harmful bloom-forming alga responsible for brown tides in estuaries of the Middle Atlantic U.S., has been investigated by atomic force microscopy for the first time, using probes functionalized with a monoclonal antibody specific for the alga. The rupture force between a single monoclonal antibody and the surface of A. anophagefferens was experimentally found to be 246 +/- 11 pN at the load rate of 12 nN/s. Force histograms for A. anophagefferens and other similarly-sized algae are presented and analyzed. The results illustrate the effects of load rates, and demonstrate that force-distance measurements can be used to build biosensors with high signal-to-noise ratios for A. anophagefferens. The methods described in this paper can be used, in principle, to construct sensors with single-cell resolution for arbitrary cells for which monoclonal antibodies are available.
... Along with the algae, the biomonitoring industry is blooming (see, for example, Anderson and Ramsdell 2005). ...
... A nascent US HAB science program is generating the understanding and tools needed to detect, analyze, and predict HABs (Anderson and Ramsdell 2005). Applying these scientific capabilities to manage the nation's coastal waters is mainly a communication challenge. ...
Article
Full-text available
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are natural freshwater and marine hazards that impose substantial adverse impacts on the human use of coastal and marine resources. The socioeconomic and health impacts of HABs can be considerable, thereby making a case for "human dimensions" research to support HAB response. Human dimensions research is multidisciplinary, integrating social science, humanities, and other fields with natural science to enhance resource management by addressing human causes, consequences, and responses to coastal environmental problems. Case studies reported here illustrate the importance of human dimensions research. Incorporating such research into the scientific agenda – as well as into management decisions of public agencies concerned with natural resource management, environmental protection, and public health and welfare – requires the development of both strategic guidance and institutional capacity. The recent development of a multi-agency research strategy for HAB response and a strategic plan for human dimensions research represent two important steps in this direction.
... [3] Models incorporating CO 2 impacts on phytoplankton or HAB generation are in their infancy [Anderson and Ramsdell, 2005;Franks, 2008], largely because of the difficulty of incorporating non-linear effects of biological processes. Such effects can be subtle, but have substantial attendant impacts on food webs and biogeochemical cycles. ...
Article
Full-text available
Recent investigations into the role of carbon dioxide on phytoplankton growth and composition have clearly shown differential effects among species and assemblages, suggesting that increases in oceanic CO2 may play a critical role in structuring lower trophic levels of marine systems in the future. Furthermore, alarming increases in the occurrence of harmful algal blooms (HABs) in coastal waters have been observed, and while not uniform among systems, appear in some manner to be linked to human impacts (eutrophication) on coastal systems. Models of HABs are in their infancy and do not at present include sophisticated biological effects or their environmental controls. Here we show that subtle biological responses occur in the HAB species Phaeocystis globosa Scherffel as a result of CO2 enrichment induced by gentle bubbling. The alga, which has a polymorphic life history involving the formation of both colonies and solitary cells, exhibited altered growth rates of colonial and solitary forms at [CO2] of 750 ppm, as well as increased colony formation. In addition, substantial modifications of elemental and photosynthetic constituents of the cells (C cell-1, N cell-1, potential quantum yield, chl a cell-1) occurred under elevated CO2 concentrations compared to those found at present CO2 levels. In contrast, other individual and population variables (e.g., colony diameter, total chlorophyll concentration, carbon/nitrogen ratio) were unaffected by increased CO2. Our results suggest that predictions of the future impacts of Phaeocystis blooms on coastal ecosystems and local biogeochemistry need to carefully examine the subtle biological responses of this alga in addition to community and ecosystem effects.
... Noxious or toxic blooms of certain species of algae (e.g., Pseudo-nitzschia) can cause outbreaks of marine animal and human illness and death via the accumulation of toxins through marine food webs. These events have increased in frequency and severity in recent years and have become a topic of intense research activity [1]. Even with all of the aforementioned technology, we are still confronted with the problem that algal blooms are not predictable in their occurrences. ...
... Noxious or toxic blooms of certain species of algae (e.g., Pseudo-nitzschia) can cause outbreaks of marine animal and human illness and death via the accumulation of toxins through marine food webs. These events have increased in frequency and severity in recent years, and have become a topic of intense research activity [1]. The response of toxic and noxious algal species are strongly affected by the physical and chemical parameters that vary with depth and time in coastal ecosystems, and these features can be adequately captured using dense sensing and sampling approaches. ...
... Noxious or toxic blooms of certain species of algae (e.g., Pseudonitzschia ) can cause outbreaks of marine animal and human illness and death via the accumulation of toxins through marine food webs. These events have increased in frequency and severity in recent years and have become a topic of intense research activity [1]. Even with all of the aforementioned technology, we are still confronted with the problem that algal blooms are not predictable in their occurrences. ...
Article
Full-text available
More than 70% of our earth is covered by water, yet we have explored less than 5% of the aquatic environment. Aquatic robots, such as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), and their supporting infrastructure play a major role in the collection of oceanographic data. To make new discoveries and improve our overall understanding of the ocean, scientists must make use of these platforms by implementing effective monitoring and sampling techniques to study ocean upwelling, tidal mixing, and other ocean processes. Effective observation and continual monitoring of a dynamic system as complex as the ocean cannot be done with one instrument in a fixed location. A more practical approach is to deploy a collection of static and mobile sensors, where the information gleaned from the acquired data is distributed across the network. Additionally, orchestrating a multisensor, long-term deployment with a high volume of distributed data involves a robust, rapid, and cost-effective communication network. Connecting all of these components, which form an aquatic robotic system, in synchronous operation can greatly assist the scientists in improving our overall understanding of the complex ocean environment.
Article
Full-text available
The Juan de Fuca eddy, located off the coasts of Washington (USA) and British Columbia (Canada), has been identified as a region that frequently contains relatively high levels of domoic acid (DA), d toxin produced by some members of the marine diatom genus, Pseudo-nitzschia. This seasonal eddy provides a unique environment to study the influence of nutrients on Pseudo-nitzschia abundance and DA accumulation in the field. Vertical sampling in the Juan de Fuca region was conducted in May, July and September of 2001 in an effort to determine environmental conditions and phytoplankton dynamics within the eddy compared to surrounding waters. The eddy was characterized by high primary productivity and high biomass in May and September relative to surrounding waters and was dominated by diatoms in the >5 mum size-fraction. In May, nitrate (NO3-) concentrations and the corresponding NO3- assimilation rates by phytoplankton within the eddy surface waters were relatively low. In contrast, in September, NO3- was high and NO3- assimilation rates increased by 7 times relative to those in May. DA was below detection levels at all stations in May and July. In September, Pseudo-nitzschia reached highest cell densities (-2 x 10(4) cells l(-1)) and particulate DA (-30 ng DA equivalents l(-1)) was detected in surface waters of the eddy. The presence of DA in healthy growing phytoplankton communities indicates a need to examine other environmental conditions that induce DA production in natural Pseudo-nitzschia populations than have previously been reported in nutrient-stressed laboratory studies.
Article
Full-text available
Prediction of the consequences of harmful algal blooms for humans and other vertebrates is constrained by an inadequate understanding of the factors that promote their initiation. A simple exponential growth model of net production is used for analysis of four time series at different sampling intervals over ~40 years of red tide strandings, associated fish kills, and concomitant dust loadings on the West Florida shelf. At least large summer blooms of a toxic dinoflagellate Gymnodinium breve appear to be primed regularly by an aeolian supply of nutrients. Wet deposition of Saharan mineral aerosols may alleviate iron limitation of diazotrophic cyanophytes, which in turn fuel the nitrogen economy of red tides in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Vagaries of the wind-induced circulation and of selective grazing pressure on phytoplankton competitors within phosphorus replete coastal waters then determine each year the residence times for exposure of G. breve-mediated neurotoxins to fish, manatees, and humans along the southeastern United States.
Article
Full-text available
Paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) occurs nearly every year in the Gulf of Maine. In a study of dynamics of the causative organism, the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium sp., we conducted three surveys of the coastal and offshore waters of Gulf of Maine during the summer of 1998, sampling more than 200 stations during each cruise in June, July and August. Hydrographic data were collected and concentrations of phytoplankton chlorophyll, inorganic nutrients and densities of Alexandrium cells were measured in discrete water samples. The distributions of Alexandrium at the surface and in subsurface waters displayed maximum cell densities in the offshore waters of the Gulf on all three cruises. Highest cell densities in surface waters (ca. 5.5×103 cells l−1) were observed in two broad patches: one in the Bay of Fundy and another in shelf and offshore waters of the central and eastern Gulf of Maine in association with the Eastern Maine Coastal Current. Highest subsurface densities of cells appeared to be associated with the frontal edges beyond the cold surface waters associated with the Eastern Maine Coastal Current. As the summer progressed, the highest surface densities of Alexandrium receded toward the eastern portions of the Gulf and the Bay of Fundy. We suggest that the offshore distributions of relatively high densities of Alexandrium are naturally occurring and can be related to inorganic nutrient fluxes, and to the ambient light field as it varies seasonally and vertically. Locations of high cell densities were described and interpreted using a nondimensional light-nutrient parameter, computed as the ratio of the depth of the 10% surface irradiance to the depth of 4 μM NO3 concentration. Possible mechanisms responsible for periodic development of PSP outbreaks in nearshore shellfish beds are discussed.
Article
Full-text available
Marine biotoxins and harmful algae represent a significant and expanding threat to human health and fisheries resources throughout the U.S. This problem takes many forms, ranging from massive "red tides" or blooms of cells that discolor the water to dilute, inconspicuous concentrations of cells noticed only because of the harm caused by the highly potent toxins those cells contain. Impacts include mass mortalities of wild and farmed fish, human intoxications and death from contaminated shellfish or fish, alterations of marine trophic structure, and death of marine mammals, seabirds, and other animals. The nature of the problem has changed considerably over the last two decades in the U.S. Where formerly a few regions were affected, now virtally every coastal state is threatened, in many cases over large geographic areas and by more than one harmful species. The U.S. research, monitoring, and regulatory infrastructure is not adequately prepared to meet this expanding threat. In an effort to surmount these problems, a workshop was convened to formulate a National Plan for the prediction, control, and mitigation of the effects of harmful algal blooms on the U.S. marine biota. This report summarizes the status of U.S. research knowledge and capabilties, and identifies areas where research funds should be directed for maximum benefit. Funding was provided by National Marine Fisheries Servce Saltonstall-Kennedy grant No. NA27FD0092-01, National Marine Fisheries Servce Charleston Laboratory and by the NOAA Coastal Oceans Program.
The Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms: A National Research Agenda
  • Ecohab
ECOHAB. 1995. The Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms: A National Research Agenda. Anderson, D.M, ed. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA, 66 pp.
The Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algae Blooms. A Plan for Coordinated Scientifi c Research and Co-operation to Develop International Capabilities for Assessment, Prediction and Mitigation
  • Geohab
GEOHAB. 1998. The Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algae Blooms. A Plan for Coordinated Scientifi c Research and Co-operation to Develop International Capabilities for Assessment, Prediction and Mitigation. Asian Natural Environmental Science Center, the University of Tokyo, Japan, 43 pp.
Harmful Algal Research and Response: A National Environmental Science Strategy
  • Harness
HARNESS. 2005. Harmful Algal Research and Response: A National Environmental Science Strategy 2005-2015, Ramsdell, J.S., D.M. Anderson, and P.M. Glibert, eds. Ecological Society of America, Washington D.C., 82 pp.