1800 Second Street, Suite 799, Sarasota, FL 34236
START is dedicated to promoting efforts for control and mitigation of red tide in an environmentally responsible manner and is committed to education outreach as its primary mitigation strategy. By managing and controlling red tide, START's vision is to improve the quality of life for Florida citizens and visitors, protect the environment and improve our State's economy.
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Mote Aquarium hosted a family festival in celebration of World Oceans Day. The event took place Sunday, June 7, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., in the Mote Aquarium Courtyard. The event included games and crafts focused on green practices, marine exploration and conservation.
Saturday, April 25th was the Fish & Wildlife Research Institution's annual event and open house. The event featured tours, presentations, hands-on activities and local organizations. The START booth, pre-event.
A friendly manatee stopped and visited the START booth.
On April 13th, START's Englewood Chapter hosted a community forum at the Elsie Quirk Library in Englewood, Florida. Kate Nierenberg, senior biologist in the Environmental Health Program at Mote Marine Laboratory, presented the Beach Conditions Reporting System and discused human health impacts of Karenia brevis. Kate Nierenberg answering audience questions
April 13-18th was Sustainability Week at Sarasota County Public Libraries START fact cards and Be START Smart activity books were on display in all Sarasota County libraries, during Sustainability Week.
The Bonita Springs/Ft. Myers Beach START chapter hosted a general membership meeting, including a red tide research update and red drift algae research update. The event took place on March 31st, at the Vester Marine and Environmental Science Research Field Station. Attendees received a tour of the facility, START update, and research updates from scientists from Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr. Michael Parsons presented red tide research, and Dr. Ai Ning Loh presented red drift algae research. Vester Marine & Environmental Science Dr. Michael Parsons Research Field Station Dr. Ai Ning Loh
RED TIDE CONTROL & MITIGATION PROJECT SUMMARIES
Georgia Institute of Technology, Julia Kubanek
Biological Control of Karenia brevis Toxicity
Can other organisms break down red tide toxins?
Dr. Julia Kubanek of Georgia Institute of Technology wants to better understand how phytoplankton living in the Gulf of Mexico affect the toxins produced by Florida red tide blooms, otherwise known as Karenia brevis. Her research will investigate whether exposure to other species can degrade brevetoxins, possibly representing a natural, biological control agent for Florida red tide toxicity. A decrease in toxins produced by K. brevis could likely result in a decrease in the red tide’s negative impacts such as reducing fish and aquatic animal deaths and human respiratory irritations.
Update
Recent work demonstrated that native Gulf of Mexico phytoplankton are capable of detoxifying waters containing red tide. The phytoplankton do not necessary kill the K. brevis cells – they just remove dissolved brevetoxin from the water column. Waterborne concentrations of the most prevalent brevetoxin, PbTx-2, declined by 60-80 percent when in the presence of other phytoplankton species that occur in the Gulf of Mexico (e.g., Skeletonema costatum). This was observed whether the brevetoxin source was cultured K. brevis, a natural bloom sample, or dissolved brevetoxins in the lab. The losses could not be accounted for by either bacteria associated with phytoplankton, nor by the transformation of PbTx-2 to other brevetoxins or to known metabolites of brevetoxins. This phenomenon appears to be widespread and was found to occur with several different species of phytoplankton.
Experiments are underway to test whether PbTx-2 is degraded completely by these other phytoplankton, or whether PbTx-2 becomes associated with these phytoplankton cells. The lab experiments involve cultured phytoplankton exposed to purified brevetoxins, with brevetoxins analyzed using mass spectrometry (measuring the mass of the toxins), enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays, and immunohistological microscopy.
Nutrient controls contributing to Karenia brevis blooms in the Gulf of Mexico
Part of the nutrient question.
Florida red tide blooms are extremely complex. Determining bloom dynamics and identifying what nutrient and environmental conditions contribute to blooms will greatly help control and mitigation efforts. Researchers at the University of South Florida and Old Dominion University have developed a project that will investigate one piece of the nutrient puzzle. Dr. Jason Lenes and Dr. Margaret Mulholland will test their theory that increasing the amount of the nutrient silica in an ecosystem will favor the growth of other, more beneficial phytoplankton species rather than Karenia brevis. They also hypothesize that this shift will reduce the abundance of prey items for Karenia brevis to feed upon. These experiments will help us to better understand the complicated process of red tide bloom growth and maintenance in the Gulf of Mexico and may lead to a shifting point where nutrient ratios could be altered to control these large blooms.
Current laboratory and culture studies are focusing on the role of grazing by Karenia in nutrient depleted environments on a variety of potential prey items including bacteria and other phytoplankton species. These Results indicate that Karenia is capable of ingesting prey items by engulfing them (phagotrophic ingestion), representing a potential alternative nutrient source for maintaining red tide blooms. In addition to grazing experiments, researchers are establishing the growth conditions of phytoplankton that bloom along with K. brevis and also phytoplankton that bloom prior to K. brevis on the West Florida Shelf (WFS). Establishment of growth conditions for competing phytoplankton species from the WFS will allow for examination of K. brevis growth when exposed to different nitrogen-to-silicon ratios.
A biogeochemical model, or habitat simulation (HABSIM), was developed incorporating 49 ecological variables over four submodels to evaluate the role of each potential nutrient source supporting K. brevis red tide blooms on the WFS. Submodels included: 1) a biochemical submodel, 2) a benthic submodel, 3) an optical submodel, and 4) a dust submodel.
Preliminary HABSIM runs of the 2001 red tide bloom successfully reproduced the spring succession of different types of phytoplankton - from diatoms to microflagellates. The initial population of diatoms quickly began to sink out of the water column. The remineralization of the diatom led to an increase in nitrogen concentrations fueling the success of the microflagellates, not Karenia, until phosphorus limitation prevented any further growth.
As warmer surface water temperatures begin to dominate the nutrient deprived middle and inner WFS, summer dust events removed iron-limited growth of Trichodesmium. The Trichodesmium then fixed nitrogen gas, using low levels of phosphorus, to provide a type of new nitrogen source for initializing the fall K. brevis population. For more red tide control and mitigation projects and news, please select the C&M tab, located at the top of the page.
Would you like a START guest speaker in your area? Please contact Danielle Troiano at Danielle@start1.com
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