Algal Blooms
Picture:
This is a picture of the cost of Shandong. Its waters are filled with algae due
to an algal bloom.
Summary:
Algal blooms are periods of time in which algae grow excessively in a specific body
of water. They are often caused by an excess in nutrients which algae eat.
Sometimes, algae can be as dense as millions of per milliliter of water. Animals
and other plants cannot survive with massive amounts of water because of lack
of sunlight. The more animals that die, the more algae grow because they feed
on their decomposed matter. The only way the bloom can stop is either with
human’s help or through natural processes.
Opinion/Reflection:
This is not a good thing for bodies of water to be undergoing. If algae start
to bloom in a lot in water, people should help clean it out immediately.
Otherwise, it could take years for the algae to naturally die out.
Questions:
1.
How long does it take for the algae to die
naturally?
2.
How can you help this problem?
3.
When and where do algal blooms usually occur?
Excessive algal growth is very much a problem if it prevents sunlight from reaching organisms. However, algae is often a good food source when it is present (in reasonable amounts) in ecosystems. In my opinion, the most natural course of action should be taken to deal with the growth, since it is a naturally occurring problem.
ReplyDelete1. What are some other problems caused by algal blooms?
2.What causes the overabundance of nutrients in water?
3.Does temperature or humidity have anything to do with increased algal growth?
I agree that algae are good in controlled amounts, but very dangerous when there are lots of them.These algae can possibly wipe out keystone species. As we learned in class keystone species are essential to their ecosystem. If they are taken away then the ecosystem would collapse. Since algae block sunlight from some organisms and those organisms could be depleted from nutrients, leading to the species extinction also directly leading to the collapse of the ecosystem. Therefore we should regulate the growth of the algae so that the ecosystems stay healthy and do not collapse.
ReplyDeleteQuestions
1.Is the growth of algae due to human activities, and if so how?
2.What would happen if we were to evenly distribute algae in all of the bodies of water on Earth?
3.Do seasonal changes influence the rate of growth of the algae and how. Also what is the season in which the algae grow most?
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ReplyDeleteI think that algae blooms are very bad. They take away natural beauty and could pose threats to species. If enough species were to die it might might collapse an ecosystem. Blooms can occur in lots of places. There is a pond near the JNC which is experiencing an algae bloom right now. Each time that I pass by, I see less and less of the water's surface. An algae bloom occurred a few years ago in the spring as in the same spot. That suggests that they occur in warmer weather. To answer question 2,all you need to do it to clean all the algae. I got a big net and simple removed the algae. If people pitched in and worked to remove the masses of algae then I believe the problem would be solved.
ReplyDeleteAlgae is usually good, but in amounts this big, it's a definite negative. Humans should help to clear out most of the algae, but leave enough for a food source. to respond to Ahson C.'s question 3, seasonal changes almost definitely affect the growth of algae. the season algae grows the most is probably summer, as it is the season when the water is most favorable to plants and animals (temperature-wise).
ReplyDelete