Laboratory tests of ammonium and barley straw extract as agents to suppress abundance of the harmful alga Prymnesium parvum and its toxicity to fish.
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.
Grover
James P
JP
Department of Biology, Program in Environmental and Earth Sciences, Box 19498, The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 76019, USA. grover@uta.edu
Baker
Jason W
JW
Ureña-Boeck
Fabiola
F
Brooks
Bryan W
BW
Errera
Reagan M
RM
Roelke
Daniel L
DL
Kiesling
Richard L
RL
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
D008387:Marine Toxins; D010936:Plant Extracts; D000644:Quaternary Ammonium Compounds; D002734:Chlorophyll; D000077194:Chlorophyll A