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Toxins
Special Issues
Unraveling the Environmental Threat of Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs): Causes...
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Unraveling the Environmental Threat of Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs): Causes and Impacts

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2024 | Viewed by 534

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Rafael Carballeira

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institut Cavanilles de Biodiversitat i Biologia Evolutiva, Universitat de València, C/ Catedràtic José Beltrán 2, 46980 Paterna, València, Spain
Interests: phycology; phytoplankton; diatoms; taxonomy; microbial ecology; ecosystem services
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Vitor Gonçalves

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. CIBIO, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, InBIO Laboratório Associado, Pólo dos Açores, Universidade dos Açores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
2. Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade dos Açores, 9500-321 Ponta Delgada, Portugal
Interests: limnology; phycology; water quality; biodiversity & conservation; phytoplankton; diatoms; paleolimnology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a growing concern for ecological and public health worldwide; however, the mechanisms that trigger this complex ecological phenomenon are still largely unknown. Therefore, unraveling them is crucial because of HABs’ far-reaching ecological and socio-economic impact. The abundance of information on HABs underscores the pressing need for a Special Issue dedicated to exploring their causes and impacts. HABs pose significant challenges to aquatic ecosystems and human health, making them the main goal for interdisciplinary research efforts due to the intricate mechanisms behind bloom formation, their enhancing factors, and the diverse array of impacts they impose. The articles in this Special Issue focus on key issues including ecological drivers that boost HABs, the environmental control of toxin production, and the impacts of HABs on public health or socioeconomic activities, with the aim of identifying the main research gaps and future directions for advancing our understanding of HABs and improving management practices and policies.

Dr. Rafael Carballeira
Dr. Vitor Gonçalves
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • harmful algal blooms
  • phytoplankton
  • microalgae
  • toxins
  • red tide
  • water quality
  • socioeconomic impacts
  • monitoring
  • mitigation strategies
  • ecosystem services

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 4829 KiB  
Article
Naturally and Anthropogenically Induced Lingulodinium polyedra Dinoflagellate Red Tides in the Galician Rias (NW Iberian Peninsula)
by Ricardo Prego, Roberto Bao, Manuel Varela and Rafael Carballeira
Toxins 2024, 16(6), 280; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins16060280 - 19 Jun 2024
Viewed by 343
Abstract
Despite the fact that the first red tide reported on the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula was due to Lingulodinium polyedra, knowledge about their frequency and, particularly, about the environmental conditions contributing to bloom initiation is still scarce. For this reason, L. [...] Read more.
Despite the fact that the first red tide reported on the coasts of the Iberian Peninsula was due to Lingulodinium polyedra, knowledge about their frequency and, particularly, about the environmental conditions contributing to bloom initiation is still scarce. For this reason, L. polyedra bloom episodes were observed and studied in three Galician rias during the summer season based on the 1993–2008 record database period; additionally, samples were collected in summer 2008. Proliferations of L. polyedra occurred in the rias of Ares and Barqueiro in June and August, respectively, while in the Ria of Coruña, they persisted from the end of June to early September. Red tides developed when the surface temperature reached 17 °C, with “seasonal thermal window” conditions, and when salinities were ≥30, i.e., an “optimal salinity window”; when these parameters were lower than these thresholds, cyst germination decreased. A cyst transport mechanism from sediments to the surface must also exist; this mechanism was found to be natural (tidal currents) in the ria of Barqueiro or anthropogenic (dredging) in the rias of Ares and Coruña. Surface temperatures during summer were usually favorable for cyst germination (85 to 100%) during the 1993–2008 period; however, water temperatures below 10 m depth only rarely reached the 17 °C threshold (2 to 18%). During this 16-year period, dredging activities could explain 71% (Coruña) and 44% (Ares) of the recorded bloom events. When a bloom episode developed in early summer, favorable conditions did not lead to a new red tide, probably due to the lag period required by cysts for germination. Moreover, blooms did not develop when high densities of diatoms (>1,000,000 cells·L−1) remained in the water column as a result of summer upwelling pulses occurring in specific years. The temperature–sediment disturbance pattern found in this study provides a useful tool for the prevention of eventual risks resulting from red tides of this dinoflagellate. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Environmental Threat of Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs): Causes and Impacts)
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