Acronym habWAVE
Category
Aquaculture
Title Relevance of the combination of biological and physical processes in the initiation of harmful algal blooms on the nw coast of portugal Programme National Programme
Instrument (FP6)
Contact Type (FP7)
Strand (Interreg)
NA
Theme (FP7)
Activity Area (FP6)
Regional Area (Interreg)
Action (COST)
NA
Specific Programme (FP7)
NA
Funding source National Coordinator Ana Amorim Coordinator email NA
Coordinator institution
NA
Institutions involved
FCiências.ID - Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências (Portugal) ,
CCMAR - Center of Marine Sciences (Portugal) ,
CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (Portugal) ,
IPMA - Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere (Portugal) ,
Start year 2018 End year 2021 Funding (€) € 238,767 Website https://www.cesam-la.pt/projetos/habwave-relevancia-da-conjugacao-de-processos-biologicos-e-fisicos-na-iniciacao-de-blooms-de-algas-nocivas-na-costa-nw-de-portugal/ Summary "Phytoplankton is a key element in the functioning of marine ecosystems as all higher trophic levels depend on it. However, some species are directly responsible for major economic losses, due to their impact on the exploitation of marine resources and human health. The coast of Portugal is regularly affected by blooms of some of these species (HABs), in particular by the dinoflagellates Dinophysis acuta and D. acuminata, responsible for diarrheal shellfish poisoning syndrome, and Gymnodinium catenatum, responsible for paralyzing shellfish poisoning syndrome. Until now, the only way to safeguard public health is to ban the collection of the toxified resource, with serious socioeconomic implications. There is an urgent need for new scientific-technological approaches that help minimize or mitigate these events.
The ultimate goal of HabWAVE is the development of new forecasting capabilities to enable timely management decisions that can reduce the impact of HABs on the emerging aquaculture sector in Portugal. To achieve this goal, we have brought together a multidisciplinary consortium, which brings together marine biologists, physicists, geologists and modellers, with extensive research experience in HABs and coastal oceanography, to investigate the conditions that lead to the initiation of these proliferations, in particular, of species such as o G. catenatum that produce a benthic resistance cyst in their life cycle. In most regions affected by HAB, the origin of the inoculum is still an open question. In species that produce cysts, it is hypothesized that they may function as seeds, which, when transported to conditions favorable to their germination, inoculate the surface waters. However, physical processes are necessary to allow its transport from the bottom to the euphotic zone. In HabWAVE, a survey will be carried out, on the NW coast of Portugal, of the cysts present in the sediments and in the adjacent nephloid layer (BNL). The physical processes, responsible for the dynamics of the background particles, will be identified by in situ observations (ADCP together with a LISST200x, and vertical chain of thermistors) and satellite data (SAR, SST and ocean color). The environmental and physiological characteristics that induce the germination of cysts of G. catenatum and other potentially toxic species will be investigated, and a germination model will be developed. Finally, a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model will be developed to evaluate cyst transport mechanisms that may explain the initiation of HABs. Observational results of cyst viability will be used to test the bloom initiation hypothesis using a Lagrangian approach. As a final result of the project, it is expected to arrive at a conceptual model capable of contributing to the operationalization of a predictive system for HABs, to support the aquaculture sector."
Keywords
Open sea aquaculture;
Algal toxins;
Impacts;
Algae;
Shellfish;
Monitoring;
Mollusc;
Marine Region
38
Portuguese Waters (27.IXa,27.IXb)
1
Marine Region Map
