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Harmful Algal Blooms

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Ocean Engineering

  • 16 Accesses

Synonyms

Phytoplankton bloom; Red tide

Definition

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are a major ecological disaster in the ocean or freshwaters. From an ecological point of view, discoloration is mainly caused by the rapid growth or concentration of harmful or toxic microalgae, macroalgae, and cyanobacteria in water bodies under suitable environmental conditions. HAB species comprise two groups: those that are toxin producers, which can contaminate seafood or kill fish, and those that are high biomass producers, which, at high cellular concentrations, can have negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems, such as hypoxia and indiscriminate killing of marine organisms.

Introduction

HABs are natural ecological phenomenon, caused by rapid algal blooms or accumulation, which can have catastrophic economic or ecological consequences, such as mass mortality of marine animals, contamination of seafood, alteration of marine food webs, or deterioration of tourism (Yu et al. 2018). As shown in Fig. 1, the...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, China

    Pengbin Wang

  2. Fourth Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Beihai, China

    Pengbin Wang

Authors
  1. Pengbin Wang
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pengbin Wang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hadal Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China

    Weicheng Cui

  2. School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Shixiao Fu

  3. School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    Zhiqiang Hu

Section Editor information

  1. Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemistry, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, China

    Chunsheng Wang

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Wang, P. (2021). Harmful Algal Blooms. In: Cui, W., Fu, S., Hu, Z. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ocean Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_345-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_345-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6963-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6963-5

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