Algal blooms are rapid, transient increases in algal biomass in aquatic ecosystems, typically driven by nutrient enrichment (especially bioavailable nitrogen and phosphorus), favorable light and temperature conditions, and water column stability. They often involve phytoplankton, including cyanobacteria, diatoms, and dinoflagellates, and can reach densities that markedly alter primary production, oxygen dynamics, and food-web structure. In research, algal blooms are studied as manifestations of eutrophication, with emphasis on nutrient loading thresholds, community succession, and biogeochemical feedbacks. Harmful algal blooms (HABs), a subset, are investigated for toxin production, bloom initiation and termination mechanisms, and impacts on ecosystem services and biogeochemical cycling.
A publication led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen, Germany, shows that microscopic partnerships between ciliates and bacteria play a role in the nitrogen cycle of lakes. The ...
Ecology
Jun 17, 2026
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It's official: El Niño is back. By late fall 2026, forecast models give a 2-in-3 chance of a strong-to-very-strong El Niño affecting the weather, climate and ocean temperatures across the planet.
Environment
Jun 15, 2026
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Marine mammal stranding teams have completed major response activities for two deceased juvenile humpback whales discovered less than 10 miles (16 kilometers) apart in Monterey Bay earlier this month and issued preliminary ...
Ecology
Jun 15, 2026
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A new study challenges a long-standing assumption about how cyanobacteria survive environmental stress. The study, led by researchers at the Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research (IOLR)—the Kinneret Limnological ...
Ecology
Jun 13, 2026
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During the Archean Eon—roughly 4 billion years ago—the Earth was a lifeless planet. The atmosphere lacked oxygen, and there were few, if any, organisms to be found anywhere on the globe. Then something incredible happened. ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jun 12, 2026
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Oxygen depletion in the western Baltic Sea is not uncommon. Oxygen-poor conditions regularly occur in deeper waters, placing stress on marine ecosystems and, in extreme cases, causing fish kills. As ocean temperatures continue ...
Environment
Jun 11, 2026
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As toxic algal blooms intensify around the world, a renowned Bowling Green State University researcher continues to lead the global conversation on how to prevent them, keeping the university and its Center for Great Lakes ...
Ecology
Jun 11, 2026
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Hannah Ray J Childs propelled her kayak into a rapid on Iowa's Maquoketa River on a recent afternoon and dipped her paddle in the water to swing the front of her boat into the air.
Environment
Jun 4, 2026
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Algal blooms can seem to appear overnight. A stretch of ocean that looked clear days earlier can suddenly appear discolored and sometimes pose risks to ecosystems and human health. But scientists say blooms are rarely sudden—understanding ...
Environment
Jun 3, 2026
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You've probably seen slimy mats of brownish green clinging to rocks in streams or on lake beds, and perhaps not given it another thought. But George Mason University's Rosalina Stancheva Christova has. For more than 20 years, ...
Ecology
Jun 1, 2026
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