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.
Innovators who are working on ways to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to fight climate change are having a tough time lately.
Environment
May 12, 2026
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Research led by a University of Bristol Ph.D. student has revealed a host of thriving microscopic algae communities in snow and glaciers across one of the most remote locations on Earth. The study, which appears in ISME Communications ...
Environment
May 11, 2026
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As we transition into spring, wildfires are on the minds of many Canadians. In fact, wildfires have already started in some parts of the country.
Ecology
May 11, 2026
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One of the United States' largest fisheries is hiding in plain sight. Recreational freshwater anglers in the lower 48 states catch—and keep—far more fish than any official body has estimated, according to new research from ...
Ecology
May 7, 2026
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Heavy rains causing repeated river flood intrusions into Florida's freshwater springs are changing the function of the clear natural resource. Findings from University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences ...
Earth Sciences
May 5, 2026
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Scientists at UC San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography have uncovered new insights into the bioluminescence of a unique species of marine plankton that feeds on other plankton, including the harmful algae responsible ...
Ecology
Apr 29, 2026
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Changes in nutrient dynamics caused by rising water temperatures and altered stratification patterns due to climate change are promoting the growth of harmful algal blooms. This is the outcome of a new long-term study led ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 27, 2026
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Ocean temperatures are rising around the world—and marine wildlife are feeling the heat. New research reveals that almost two-thirds of a million seabirds were killed by a marine heat wave off the coast of Australia in 2023 ...
Ecology
Apr 23, 2026
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Florida's Indian River Lagoon has been an ecosystem in decline going back to 2011, when harmful algal blooms led to a severe decline in seagrass, the foundational component of shallow coastal ecosystems.
Ecology
Apr 21, 2026
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Massive blooms of Sargassum seaweed that have inundated coastlines across the Atlantic since 2011 likely originate off the coast of West Africa—forming years before they are visible and overturning long-standing assumptions ...
Earth Sciences
Apr 16, 2026
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