Golden Alga Workshop Summary Report - Texas Parks & Wildlife ...

List of Research Needs for the Study of Prymnesium parvum in Texas
The list below was developed from the Golden Alga Workshop recommendations and was
reordered by the TPWD Golden Alga Task Force based on priority criteria and funding
feasibility. This list will be used in determining proposals to be funded by TPWD and for
seeking additional funding and cooperative studies. Procedures for applying for research
funding from TPWD will be listed in the golden alga website portion of the TPWD website
(www.tpwd.state.tx.us).
Research Needing Funding:
• Develop cost-effective, viable mitigation for bloom and toxin treatment in large natural
ecosystems. A current list of treatment alternatives includes the following:
a. Use of decomposing barley straw to limit or prevent cell proliferation
b. Use of Christmas trees to limit or prevent cell proliferation
c. Use of clay flocculation in certain locations
d. Comparative advantages of PAC or other flocculant application
e. Biological control options (including Kathablepharis)
f. Ultrasonics, ozonation, and chemical flocculation
g. “Last resort” chemical control alternatives (may be appropriate in specific
situations where severe lethality and other environmental concerns take a back
seat)
h. Water system operation and potential alternatives for river flow alteration
(Consider political dimensions.)
• Monitor affected systems for specific blooms (start to finish); include sampling during nonbloom
times for baseline data. (Some parameters include physical data such as temperature,
salinity, alkalinity, light, turbidity, flow levels; chemical data such as dissolved oxygen,
dissolved and particulate nitrogen, phosphorus, and carbon; and biological data such as
phytoplankton composition and concentrations.) A Rapid Response plan should be
developed.
• Research golden alga bloom causes, particularly related to nitrogen and phosphorus ratios
and nutrient loading conditions. Explore if reasonable controls on septic tanks are likely to
help or not; include cost/benefit analysis. Establish if there is an association of golden alga
with introduced species in Texas.
• Explore bloom triggers and ending points for P. parvum; understand the importance of
grazing and nutrient limitation (including carbon dioxide availability) for P. parvum growth.
• Investigate the conditions and triggers necessary for toxin production and fish kills;
include the roles/dependencies of obligate needs for a dark cycle, nutrients and their
interactions, conflicting temperature/salinity evidence, fish-stimulated production, and P.
parvum densities.
• Develop predictive models, tools and techniques to recognize conditions supporting future
blooms and prevent them. (Models will also spotlight gaps in knowledge to direct future
research.)
• Develop hand-held field tools to identify alga and toxins. (Possibilities include
electrochemical detection of toxic algae, rapid detection rRNA probes for toxic algae,
PWD RP T3200-1203