Abstract
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have occurred frequently in coastal waters of China, imposing negative effects on the marine ecological environment. A dataset of HABs and terrestrial runoff was collected and analyzed in this study, and factors responsible for HABs were further explored. Frequency and expansion of HABs peaked between 2001 and 2007, and although they have declined slightly since then, they have remained quite high. Frequency and accumulative area of HABs peaked in 2004–2005, and most occurred from April to August during these years. HABs occurred frequently in the Changjiang (Yangtze River) estuary, and Prorocentrum donghaiense, Noctiluca scientillans, Karenia mikimotoi, and Skeletonema costatum were the main algal species. The increases of eutrophication, the abnormal sea surface temperature caused by climate and ocean currents, and the species invasion caused by the discharge of ballast water may be important factors for the long-term outbreak of HABs in the Chinese coastal waters. These findings provide a better understanding of HABs in China, which will be helpful to further prevention and control.
Highlights
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are the kind of ecological anomaly, which are accompanied by the rapid proliferation and aggregation of microplankton [1,2,3]
A total of 1489 HABs were recorded in the Chinese coastal waters from 1990 to 2017, and the total area affected by HABs amounted to 250,392 km2 (Table S1)
The range of algae diffusion with ocean current is limited, but it spreads to the sea area tens of thousands of meters away through ballast water [26], and this may be the reason for the increase in harmful algal species
Summary
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are the kind of ecological anomaly, which are accompanied by the rapid proliferation and aggregation of microplankton [1,2,3]. HABs change the structure and function of freshwater and marine ecosystems, destroy fisheries resources and aquatic environments [4,5], and result in toxic seafood and toxicity to human health [6,7,8]. With the rapid economic development and urbanization in Chinese coastal areas, marine ecological environment pollution and eutrophication have become increasingly serious in recent years, HABs have been recorded in many coastal regions, and algal toxins have been found in most of them, resulting in deleterious impacts [9,10,11]. It is vital to assess the HABs trends in China due to the growing effects of algal toxins on marine ecosystem and human health. Scholars used the regionally integrated approach to study the long-term HABs in some areas [16,17,18] and even the whole Chinese coastal area [19,20]
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