Golden Alga Task Force Vision and Objectives

Revised June 4, 2009

GATF Mission Statement

The mission of the TPWD Golden Alga Task Force is to protect aquatic ecosystems by understanding toxic golden algal Prymnesium parvum blooms and to avoid, minimize, and mitigate their impacts through coordination of research and collaboration with stakeholders.

Research Objectives and Priorities

The task force coordinates and promotes research that comprises four areas of need for improving understanding and management of golden alga blooms and the aquatic resources they impact: mitigation and management of Texas blooms, management of impacted fisheries and aquatic communities, monitoring of Texas blooms, and improving understanding of the biology of P. parvum. Those areas that offer immediate potential for reducing the frequency, duration, and toxicity of blooms are a research priority. Improvements in managing the impacts of blooms and monitoring of blooms and toxic episodes are the next priorities. Research into improving basic understanding of P. parvum is also crucial to improving the mitigation and management of blooms in Texas. Research leveraging existing data to enhance understanding of P. parvum and in ecosystems most severely and frequently impacted is a priority.

Priority 1 – Mitigation of P. parvum blooms in Texas

Develop cost-effective and viable mitigation for blooms and toxicity.

• Chemical control
• Clay application
• Algaecidal chemicals
• Ozonation
• Oxidative compounds
• Others
• Biological control
• Nutrient management
• Water management
• Watershed management
• Biomanipulation/Trophic manipulation
• Others
• Physical control
• Ultraviolet radiation
• Water circulation or Aeration
• Others

Priority 2 – Fishery management of P. parvum impacted waters/regions

Develop strategies for optimizing the management of fisheries in impacted ecosystems

• Stocking success evaluations – in systems that experience large annual kills as well as systems that only experience infrequent or partial kills
• Species susceptibility evaluations and responses – which species survive the best in impacted reservoirs and should we be stocking or managing for those species, even if it is carp or other species?
• Stocking rates relative to partial- or infrequent kills – do we need full stocking rates for partial kills or do most surviving species exhibit compensatory reproduction/recruitment?
• Can we manage the compensatory reproductive output of species such as carp that happens following golden alga kills? Water level manipulations to either benefit or limit reproductive potential of various species.
• Where best to apply any effective control measures? Decision-making for optimal application of control resources. Is it best to use limited control measures and resources in systems which experience partial kills/impacts or in systems that have major kills each year?
• Evaluate economic and social impacts
• Determine impacts to fisheries and aquatic organisms

Priority 3 – Monitoring P. parvum blooms in Texas

Develop techniques for monitoring blooms and determining the temporal, spatial, ecological, and economic scale of impacts and recovery.

• Develop and refine practical tools to identify P. parvum
• DNA and genetic techniques
• Electrochemical techniques
• Microscopic techniques
• Pigment techniques
• Others
• Characterization of P. parvum toxins and development of toxin standards
• Evaluate existing monitoring data
• Refine effective sampling methods and protocols
• Determine appropriate spatial scales
• Determine appropriate temporal scales
• Determine appropriate covariates of toxins and blooms
• Evaluate new sampling techniques and equipment
• Improve prediction of bloom timing and duration
• Prevent invasion or appearance of blooms in previously unaffected water bodies
• Others

Priority 4 – P. parvum biology

Improve the understanding of P. parvum biology and physiology focusing on factors related to population dynamics and toxin production.

• Improve understanding of bloom dynamics
• Determine bloom triggers
• Determine factors causing bloom senescence
• Determine factors governing toxin formation
• Improve the understanding of P. parvum life cycle
• Increase understanding of P. parvum interactions with other plankton
• Determine nutrient requirements and responses
• Improve the understanding of P. parvum physiological requirements
• Others

Status of Texas P. parvum Research

Priority 1

• Clay flocculation – marginally effective in laboratory trials
• Ozonation – highly effective, impractical on a large scale
• Ultraviolet radiation – highly effective, impractical on a large scale
• Nutrient manipulation – effective in ponds and the laboratory for short duration
• Ammonia treatment – effective in ponds for short duration, impractical on a large scale
• Copper algaecides – effective in ponds
• Potassium permanganate – effective for short term toxicity reduction in ponds
• Oxidative compounds – varying effectiveness in laboratory studies
• Decomposing wheat and barley straw – ineffective in ponds
• Decomposing cedar trees – ineffective in reservoirs
• Probiotic bacteria – ineffective in ponds
• Water circulation with SolarBee – inconclusive
• Toxin analysis and quantification – ongoing

Priority 2 (New)

• Field evaluations of restocking efforts – ongoing
• Standard TPWD monitoring of impacted fisheries – ongoing

Priority 3

• Modeling – ongoing
• Monitoring – ongoing in Lake Whitney for 5 years - statewide survey for presence and correlated compounds completed
• Genetics of P. parvum – several strains identified

Priority 4

• Population dynamics: role of grazers and virus - ongoing
• Population dynamics: Factors during bloom initiation - ongoing
• Relative toxicity to green algae, rotifer, Cladocera, and fish - ongoing