Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

CS15 Harmful Algal Blooms

Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Time: 4:00:00 PM

Location: Cochiti/Taos

Terlizzi, D, E, University of Maryland Sea Grant, Baltimore, MD, USA, dt37@umail.umd.edu

Ferrier, M, D, Biology Dept. Hood College, Frederick, MD, USA, dferrier@hood.edu

Armbrester, E, , Biology Dept. Hood College, Frederick, MD, USA,

Anlauf, K, , Biology Dept. Hood Colleg, Frederick, MD, USA,

THE EFFECT OF BARLEY STRAW EXTRACT ON THE GROWTH OF ESTUARINE DINOFLAGELLATES

Harmful algal blooms occur frequently in nutrient-enriched estuarine systems. They can be particularly problematic in impoundments used for the culture of fish or shellfish. There is a growing body of evidence that decomposing barley straw can exert an algistatic effect on certain nuisance freshwater algae; however, this method of control has not been explored for estuarine dinoflagellates. We assayed extract from decomposing barley straw for its ability to affect the growth rates of unialgal batch cultures in a number of dinoflagellate genera (including Gymnodinium, Gyrodinium, Prorocentrum, Heterocapsa, and Peridinium). After three weeks, growth of Heterocapsa pygmaea and H. triquetra was significantly inhibited (p < 0.01) in the presence of the extract . Trends of inhibition were observed in Gyrodinium galatheanum although these were not statistically significant.Growth of Prorocentrum minimum was significantly enhanced. The growth of other species was not significantly affected. Thus, pending further assays at larger scales, we conclude that barley straw shows promise as a component of integrated algal control for some dinoflagellate blooms.

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Aquatic Sciences Meeting, Albuquerque 2001

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