The Impacts of Anthropogenic Activity and Climate Change on the Formation of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) and Its Ecological Consequence

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Background

Anthropogenic activities (agricultural, aquaculture, manufacturing, and so on) have become increasingly intense during the last many decades. As a result, a large amount of inorganic nutrients (nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P)) have been dumped into rivers, particularly organic nutrients, which flow into the estuary and coastal seas. The presence of more organic nutrients than inorganic nutrients altered the nutritional composition significantly. Eutrophication in estuary and coastal waters stemmed from an excess of nutrient runoff. Meanwhile, climatic change (increased CO2 levels and rising temperatures) has become more pronounced, having a significant impact on biological processes in the marine ecosystem.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) appear to have grown in frequency, severity, and length in coastal and estuarine waters around the world, causing death and major health impacts in wildlife and humans, as well as catastrophic ecological disaster and massive economic losses. The ecological, economic, and societal ramifications of HABs necessitate an understanding of the mechanisms that cause HABs to form as well as the ecological consequences produced by HABs causative species.

Changes in nutrient content (more organic nutrient) and climate change appear to be having significant effects on species composition, toxin generation, and toxicity of HABs causative species, among other things. However, just a few projects have been completed to yet.

Dinoflagellates, diatoms, haptophytes, and other organisms are among the HABs' causal species. Anthropogenic activity and climate change are two significant variables affecting HABs. More dangerous or hazardous species have been discovered, or certain toxic species have spread to new areas. Some HABs species, for example, distinct ribotypes in Margalefidinium, Akashiwo, and others, exhibit great genetic diversity, and these species of different ribotypes have varying toxicity or environmental adaptation. Some mixoplankton has been discovered to benefit from organic nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, vitamins, and so on). Metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabonomics have been used to identify the genetic origins of bloom production since the invention of molecular techniques. Some aquatic creatures may be toxic, and the toxins may have allelopathy with other phytoplankton.

This Research Topic aims at understanding the impacts of anthropogenic activities and climate change on HABs formation and the ecological consequence caused by HABs. The following sub-topics are welcome:

- Changes of phytoplankton species composition in typical marine ecosystem, especially for HABs causative species;
- Genetic diversity of HABs species under the pressure of anthropogenic activities and climate change;
- Metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabonomics studies of HABs;
- Toxicity or allelopathy of HABs species;
- Trophic modes;
- Ecological consequence of HABs.

The Research topic will not consider species descriptions. Moreover, descriptive studies of HAB composition will not be considered unless they are accompanied by contextual environmental data or experiments that address aspects of the biology of the studied microorganisms.

Keywords: Harmful algal blooms (HABs), eutrophication, organic nutrients, climate change, temperature, CO2, biodiversity, toxicity, ecological consequence

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