title: Laboratory tests of ammonium and barley straw extract as agents to suppress abundance of the harmful alga Prymnesium parvum and its toxicity to fish.
abstract: Prymnesium parvum is a harmful alga whose blooms can cause fish kills in brackish waters. Two potential suppressants of this alga were tested, ammonium and barley straw extract (BSE), at temperatures of 10, 20 and 30 degrees C. Laboratory batch cultures were grown for 3 weeks at each temperature, with weekly doses of ammonium or BSE at either low or high levels, or a no-dose control treatment. The growth rate of P. parvum during exponential phase was highest at 20 degrees C and lowest at 10 degrees C, and was stimulated by the highest ammonium dose. Only cultures grown at 20 degrees C were toxic to fish. The highest ammonium dose abolished such toxicity and reduced the endpoint population density of P. parvum. BSE did not reduce the exponential growth rate, endpoint density, or toxicity to fish of P. parvum. The results support the use of ammonium additions, but not BSE, to suppress harmful blooms of P. parvum in those circumstances where the possible disadvantages can be managed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Program in Environmental and Earth Sciences, Box 19498, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA. grover@uta.edu
authors.forename: James P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: Jason W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Fabiola
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ureña-Boeck
authors.forename: Bryan W
authors.initials: BW
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Reagan M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Errera
authors.forename: Daniel L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Roelke
authors.forename: Richard L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Kiesling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000378:metabolism; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D003530:Cyprinidae; D056890:Eukaryota / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D001467:Hordeum / Q000737:chemistry*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008387:Marine Toxins / Q000633:toxicity*; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013696:Temperature; D023382:Toxicity Tests, Acute
chemical_list: D008387:Marine Toxins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D002734:Chlorophyll; D000077194:Chlorophyll A