Algae Bloom By Kailey
Table of Contents
1.Introduction 2.What is Algae 3.What causes a Algae Bloom 4.How can Algae Blooms Harm/Help Ecosystem? 5.Worst Algae Blooms in History 6.Ways to Prevent 7.Conclusion
Introduction An algae bloom is a disaster. This disaster could harm many people and animals. What is algae, how does it happen, how can it harm/help the ecosystem, what are the worst algae blooms in history, and ways to prevent algae bloom.
What is Algae Algae looks green and mushy. It lives in the water, but it is not a plant. It doesn’t have stems or leaves like plants do. The most known type of algae is green algae. It mostly comes out during summer (June). Some algae are toxins, but in all the world, the toxic algae are less than 1%. Algae is a producer and gives food to many aquatic organisms. It is not usually harmful to humans.
There is another kind of algae called blue green algae, they’re one of the toxic algae. Another name for blue green algae is Cyanobacteria.
What Causes Algae Bloom? Some algae blooms happen from excess nutrients. Then, the algae starts growing and forms an algae bloom.
How can Algae Blooms Harm /Help an Ecosystem When an algae bloom happens sometimes it is harmful and sometimes it is helpful to the ecosystem. An algae bloom can cause people to become sick and it can be toxic to birds and fish. When a HAB( harmful algal bloom) happens it covers huge parts of an ecosystem’s land. One of the harmful algae known as red algae (red tide) HAB sometimes blocks sunlight so other producers can’t get energy from the sun, and then…
Some algae blooms are beneficial. Sometimes an algae bloom can help the ecosystem. It can provide the primary consumers with a food source.
Worst Algae Blooms in History One of the worst algae blooms happened on Lake Erie in October of 2011 This was the worst algae bloom to happen to Lake Erie in decades. Once there was a huge algae bloom happening at the Olympics and they had to stop the canoe race. In Europe about nine cities every ten years will have at least six-ten algae blooms.
A view of lake Erie’s worst algae bloom
a graph of man made algae bloom and natural algae bloom
Ways to Prevent Algae bloom Chemists found out that shellfish materials could prevent algae blooms. Even ground up shrimp and lobster shells help prevent algae blooms from happening all over the world. The IJC report said shell fish material can eliminate 40-78 percent of algae .
Conclusion Algae blooms are caused when there are excess nutrients they can harm or help the ecosystem. Algae blooms can be prevented by shellfish materials and even by lobster shells.
This is the image of the professor holding some shellfish materials
Glossary
Beneficial
good for something
Cyanobacteria
Eliminate
blue-green algae
get rid
Excess nutrients
Organism
Prevent
Toxic
extra nutrients
Environment/ecosystem
making something stop
poison
Sources
1.www.uwindsor.ca
2.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algal_bloom
3.http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/habharm.html 4.http://blooms.uwcfl.org/what-are-habs/ 5.http://floridaswater.com/algae/ 6.www.brainpop.com 7.https://www.google.com/search? q=cyanobacteria&newwindow=1&safe=active&biw=1280&bih=635 &espv=2&source=lnms&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwqpDB7bLLAhXE3 KYKHYGdCTMQ_AUIBSgA&dpr=1