Main Research Topics - Harmful Algal Bloom

Harmful algal blooms (HAB's) refer to proliferations of algae which can cause massive fish kills, contaminate seafood with toxins and alter ecosystems in ways that humans perceive as harmful.

Two groups of HAB species are distinguished: the toxin producers and the high-biomass producers.

Toxic species contaminates seafood or kill fish.

High-biomass HABs are massive nearly-monospecific algal blooms that, although non-toxic, induce adverse impacts on the marine ecosystem: foam accumulation, anoxia, reduced yields of harvestable marine resources, habitat alteration.... Non-silicified phytoplankton are generally dominating these blooms although some diatom-HB-HABs have been reported.

HB-HABs are located in nearshore coastal waters and are induced by quantitative and qualitative changes in nutrients (N:P:Si but also organic nutrient versus inorganic nutrient) driven by natural variability and human activities.

ESA research on HAB phenomena focuses mainly on Phaeocystis whose visible harmful effect are the deposition of thick layers of odorous foam on the beaches bordering the North Sea.

The research work, in the frame of the Belgian projects AMORE and BELCOLOUR, encompasses monitoring including remote sensing, field ecology, life cycle and physiology studies and modelling.

This research is directly related to EUROHAB and GEOHAB programmes. Potential toxicity of Phaeocystis is explored in the scope of the SPSD ECOTOX project.

Phaeocystis globosa (colony and single cells)

Main publications:

Astoreca R, V Rousseau, K Ruddick, C Knechciak, B VanMol, J-Y Parent & C Lancelot. Development and application of an algorithm for detecting Phaeocystis globosa blooms in the Case 2 Southern North Sea waters. Journal of Plankton Research, 2009, 31: 287-300.

Lancelot, C., M. Keller, V. Rousseau, W.O. Smith Jr, S. Mathot. 1998. Autoecology of the Marine Haptophyte Phaeocystis sp. In : NATO Advanced Workshop on the physiological ecology of Harmful Algal Blooms. NATO-ASI Series, D.A. Anderson, A.M Cembella, G. Hallegraef, ed. Series G : Ecological Science 41 : 209-224.

Lancelot, C., 1995. The mucilage phenomenon in the continental coastal waters of the North Sea. In : The Science of the Total Environment, Elsevier, 165 : 83-112.

Lancelot, C. & Rousseau, V., 1994. Ecology of Phaeocystis-dominated ecosystems : The key role of colony forms. In : The Prymnesiophyte algae. Leadbeater, B. & J. Green, ed. Systematics Association, special volume. Publisher Oxford University Press., 12 : 229-245.

Lancelot, C., P. Wassmann & H. Barth, 1994. Ecology of Phaeocystis-dominated ecosystems, Journal of Marine Systems, 5(1) : 1-4.

Rousseau, V., Vaulot, D., Casotti, R., Cariou, V., Lenz, J., Gunkel, J. & Bauman, M. 1994 The life-cycle of Phaeocystis (Prymnesiophyceae) : evidence and hypotheses, Journ.Mar.Syst. 5(1): 23-39.

Rousseau, V., S. Becquevort, J.Y. Parent, S. Gasparini, M.-H. Daro, M. Tackx & C. Lancelot. 2000. Trophic efficiency of the planktonic food web in a coastal ecosystem dominated by Phaeocystis colonies. J. Sea Res. 43:357-372.