Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-29T16:16:42.210Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Use of local ecological knowledge in the management of algal blooms

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 May 2010

THOMAS A. SCHLACHER ,
STEWART LLOYD  and
AARON WIEGAND
THOMAS A. SCHLACHER*
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4458, Australia
STEWART LLOYD
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4458, Australia
AARON WIEGAND
Affiliation:
Faculty of Science, Health and Education, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore DC, QLD 4458, Australia
*
*Correspondence: Dr Thomas Schlacher Tel +61 7 5430 2847 Fax +61754301276 e-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

More frequent and severe algal blooms are symptomatic of increasing ecosystem stress in coastal waters. Economic losses typically follow and local governments are forced to ‘manage’ this issue. Because many blooms are not monitored, local ecological knowledge (LEK) and oral history are the only practical tools to obtain data on bloom characteristics and identify their drivers. LEK was applied to outbreaks of brown algae on popular tourist beaches in south-east Queensland (Australia). Structured interviews with local citizens who had a close and frequent connection with the ocean provided 541 bloom records, which showed that blooms are regional (≥400 km) rather than local, and that they are a historical (≥40 years) rather than a recent phenomenon. LEK frequently cited that particular wind regimes coincided with the arrival of blooms, but this could not be verified by statistical cross-validation with empirical data. Harnessing LEK was valuable in engaging citizens, in generating testable hypotheses about plume causes, in providing a previously unrecognized historical perspective and in identifying the correct spatial scale of the issue. Multi-pronged approaches will be most effective in addressing blooms where local mitigation actions are combined with broader regional coastal environmental conservation efforts.

Keywords

algal bloomscommunity-based environmental planningeutrophicationmitigationoral history
Type
Papers
Information
Environmental Conservation , Volume 37 , Issue 2 , June 2010 , pp. 210 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Agrawal, A. & Gibson, C.C. (1999) Enchantment and disenchantment: the role of community in natural resource conservation. World Development 27: 629–649.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Begossi, A. (2008) Local knowledge and training towards management. Environment, Development and Sustainability 10: 591–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berglund, J., Mattila, J., Ronnberg, O., Heikkila, J. & Bonsdorff, E. (2003) Seasonal and inter-annual variation in occurrence and biomass of rooted macrophytes and drift algae in shallow bays. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 56: 1167–1175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bolam, S.G., Fernandes, T.F., Read, P. & Raffaelli, D. (2000) Effects of macroalgal mats on intertidal sandflats: an experimental study. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 249: 123–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bonsdorff, E. (1992) Drifting algae and zoobenthos—effects on settling and community structure. Netherlands Journal of Sea Research 30: 57–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Busenberg, G.J. (1999) Collaborative and adversarial analysis in environmental policy. Policy Sciences 32: 1–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S. (2001) Ammonium requirements of fast-growing ephemeral macroalgae in a nutrient-enriched marine embayment (Port Phillip Bay, Australia). Marine Ecology-Progress Series 209: 99–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, S.J. (1999) The uptake of ammonium by four species of macroalgae in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 50: 515–522.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carr, A. (2002) Grass Roots and Green Tape: Principles and Practices of Environmental Stewardship. Sydney, Australia: The Federation Press.Google Scholar
Chavez, F.P., Strutton, P.G., Friederich, G.E., Feely, R.A., Feldman, G.C., Foley, D.G. & McPhaden, M.J. (1999) Biological and chemical response of the equatorial Pacific Ocean to the 1997–98 El Niño Science 286: 2126–2131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Christie, P. & White, A.T. (1997) Trends in development of coastal area management in tropical countries: from central to community orientation. Coastal Management 25: 155–181.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, B.M., Bennett, B.A. & Lamberth, S.J. (1996) Factors affecting spatial variability in seine net catches of fish in the surf zone of False Bay, South Africa. Marine Ecology Progress Series 131: 17–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clarke, K.R. (1993) Non-parametric multivariate analyses of changes in community structure. Australian Journal of Ecology 18: 117–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cloern, J.E. (2001) Our evolving conceptual model of the coastal eutrophication problem. Marine Ecology Progress Series 210: 223–253.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connolly, R.M., Schlacher, T.A. & Gaston, T.F. (2010) Stable isotope evidence for trophic subsidy of coastal benthic fisheries by river discharge plumes generated off small estuaries. Marine Biology Research (in press).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, S.M. & Birchenough, A.C. (2001) Community-based management of the environment: lessons from the past and options for the future. Aquatic Conservation: Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems 11: 137–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finlayson, B.L. & Brizga, S.O. (1995) The oral tradition, environmental change and river basin management: case studies from Queensland and Victoria. Australian Geographic Studies 33: 180–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fogerty, J.E. (2001) Oral history: a guide to its creation and use. In: The Historical Ecology Handbook: a Restorationist's Guide to Reference Ecosystems, ed. Egan, D. & Howell, E.A., pp. 101–120. Washington, DC, USA: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gaston, T.F., Schlacher, T.A. & Connolly, R.M. (2006) Flood discharges of a small river into open coastal waters: Plume traits and material fate. Estuarine Coastal and Shelf Science 69: 4–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, G.J., Enzer, M.J. & Kusel, J. (2001) Understanding community-based forest management: an editorial synthesis. In: Understanding Community-Based Forest Ecosystem Management, ed. Gray, G.J., Enzer, M.J. & Kusel, J., pp. 1–23. New York, NY, USA: Hawarth Press Inc.Google Scholar
Gray, J.S., Wu, R.S.S. & Or, Y.Y. (2002) Effects of hypoxia and organic enrichment on the coastal marine environment. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 238: 249–279.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallegraeff, G.M. (1993) A review of harmful algal blooms and their apparent global increase. Phycologia 32: 79–99.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Head, B. (2004) Letting the locals lead. Ecos 112: 30–31.Google Scholar
Hoagland, P., Anderson, D.M., Kaoru, Y. & White, A.W. (2002) The economic effects of harmful algal blooms in the United States: estimates, assessment issues, and information needs. Estuaries 25: 819–837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howarth, R.W. & Marino, R. (2006) Nitrogen as the limiting nutrient for eutrophication in coastal marine ecosystems: evolving views over three decades. Limnology and Oceanography 51: 364–376.Google Scholar
Howarth, R.W. (2008) Coastal nitrogen pollution: a review of sources and trends globally and regionally. Harmful Algae 8: 14–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kapoor, I. (2001) Towards participatory environmental management? Journal of Environmental Management 63: 269–279.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kellert, S.R., Mehta, J.N., Ebbin, S.A. & Lichtenfeld, L.L. (2000) Community natural resource management: promise, rhetoric, and reality. Society and Natural Resources 13: 705–715.Google Scholar
Kelly, M.G. (1998) Use of community-based indices to monitor eutrophication in European rivers. Environmental Conservation 25: 22–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, M.B., McDonald, G.T. & Morrison, T.H. (2004) Decentralisation and environmental management in Australia: a comment on the prescriptions of The Wentworth Group. Australian Geographical Studies 42: 103–115.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, M.B. & Corbett, T. (2005) The tyranny of localism: indigenous participation in community-based environmental management. Journal of Environmental Policy and Planning 7: 141–159.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, M.B. & McDonald, G. (2005) Community-based environmental planning: operational dilemmas, planning principles and possible remedies. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management 48: 709–731.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lane, R. (1997) Oral histories and scientific knowledge in understanding environmental change: a case study in the Tumut Region, NSW. Australian Geographic Studies 35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lotze, H.K. & Worm, B. (2000) Variable and complementary effects of herbivores on different life stages of bloom-forming macroalgae. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 200: 167–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lotze, H.K., Lenihan, H.S., Bourque, B.J., Bradbury, R.H., Cooke, R.G., Kay, M.C., Kidwell, S.M., Kirby, M.X., Peterson, C.H. & Jackson, J.B.C. (2006) Depletion, degradation, and recovery potential of estuaries and coastal seas. Science 312: 1806–1809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lovelock, C.E., Clegg, E., Hurrey, L., Udy, J. & Moore, K. (2008) Growth and physiology of nuisance alga Hincksia sordida during a bloom in South East Queensland, Australia. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 363: 84–88.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFadden, L. (2007) Governing coastal spaces: the case of disappearing science in integrated coastal zone management. Coastal Management 35: 429–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGwynne, L.E., McLachlan, A. & Furstengerg, J.P. (1988) Wrack breakdown on sandy beaches: its impact on interstitial meiofauna. Marine Environmental Research 25: 213–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Myatt-Bell, L.B., Scrimshaw, M.D., Lester, J.N. & Potts, J.S. (2002) Public perception of managed realignment: Brancaster West Marsh, North Norfolk, UK. Marine Policy 26: 45–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nixon, S.W. (1995) Coastal marine eutrophication: a definition, social causes, and future concerns. Ophelia 41: 199–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norkko, J., Bonsdorff, E. & Norkko, A. (2000) Drifting algal mats as an alternative habitat for benthic invertebrates: species specific responses to a transient resource. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 248: 79–104.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Olsson, P. & Folke, C. (2001) Local ecological knowledge and institutional dynamics for ecosystem management: a study of Lake Racken watershed, Sweden. Ecosystems 4: 85–104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Österblom, H., Hansson, S., Larsson, U., Hjerne, O., Wulff, F., Elmgren, R. & Folke, C. (2007) Human-induced trophic cascades and ecological regime shifts in the Baltic Sea. Ecosystems 10: 877–889.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paerl, H.W. (1997) Coastal eutrophication and harmful algal blooms: importance of atmospheric deposition and groundwater as ‘new’ nitrogen and other nutrient sources. Limnology and Oceanography 42: 1154–1165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paerl, H.W., Valdes, L.M., Peierls, B.L., Adolf, J.E. & Harding, L.W. (2006) Anthropogenic and climatic influences on the eutrophication of large estuarine ecosystems. Limnology and Oceanography 51: 448–462.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Phillips, J.A. (2006) Drifting blooms of the endemic filamentous brown alga Hincksia sordida at Noosa on the subtropical east Australian coast. Marine Pollution Bulletin 52: 962–968.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Raffaelli, D.G., Raven, J.A. & Poole, L.J. (1998) Ecological impact of green macroalgal blooms. Oceanography and Marine Biology Annual Review 36: 97–125.Google Scholar
Robertson, H.A. & McGee, T.K. (2003) Applying local knowledge: the contribution of oral history to wetland rehabilitation at Kanyabella Basin, Australia. Journal of Environmental Management 69: 275–287.Google ScholarPubMed
Robertson, M., Nichols, P., Horwitz, P., Bradby, K. & MacKintosh, D. (2000) Environmental narratives and the need for multiple perspectives to restore degraded landscapes in Australia. Ecosystem Health 6: 119–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romer, G.S. (1990) Surf zone fish community and species response to a wave energy gradient. Journal of Fish Biology 36: 279–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Salomonsen, J., Flindt, M., Geertz-Hansen, O. & Johansen, C. (1999) Modelling advective transport of Ulva lactuca (L) in the sheltered bay, Moellekrogen, Roskilde Fjord, Denmark. Hydrobiologia 397: 241–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlacher, T.A., Skillington, A.J., Connolly, R.M., Robinson, W. & Gaston, T.F. (2008) Coupling between marine plankton and freshwater flow in the plumes off a small estuary International Review of Hydrobiology 6: 641–658.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schlacher, T.A. & Connolly, R.M. (2009) Land-ocean coupling of carbon and nitrogen fluxes on sandy beaches. Ecosystems DOI: 10.1007/s10021-008-9224-2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, J.E., Runcie, J.W. & Smith, C.M. (2005) Characterization of a large-scale ephemeral bloom of the green alga Cladophora sericea on the coral reefs of West Maui, Hawai'i. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 302: 77–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, V.H. (2006) Responses of estuarine and coastal marine phytoplankton to nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment. Limnology and Oceanography 51: 377–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, V.H., Joye, S.B. & Howarth, R.W. (2006) Eutrophication of freshwater and marine ecosystems. Limnology and Oceanography 51: 351–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tibby, J., Lane, M.B. & Gell, P.A. (2007) Local knowledge and environmental management: A cautionary tale from Lake Ainsworth, New South Wales, Australia. Environmental Conservation 34: 334–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Underwood, A.J. (1997) Experiments in Ecology: Their Logical Design and Interpretation Using Analysis of Variance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Valiela, I., McClelland, J., Hauxwell, J., Behr, P.J., Hersh, D. & Foreman, K. (1997) Macroalgal blooms in shallow estuaries: controls and ecophysiological and ecosystem consequences. Limnology and Oceanography 42 1105–1118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zar, J.H. (1996) Biostatistical Analysis. Upple Saddle River, USA: Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Schlacher supplementary material

Appendices.doc

Download Schlacher supplementary material(File)
File 151 KB