Biological Regulation of Bloom-Causing Blue-Green Algae: A Feasible Alternative

摘要

The Army Corps of Engineers has constructed a group of flood control lakes in eastern Nebraska. Frequently, these lakes receive large amounts of inorganic nutrients from runoff waters containing such agricultural materials as fertilizers and animal wastes. In the summer and early fall, these nutrients often cause a tremendous increase in water productivity exemplified by large blooms involving predominantly the blue-green algae strains. The initial focus of the project involved isolation and characterization of the bloom-forming strains of blue-green algae. Closely related to this was the isolation and characterization of appropriate biological regulatory agents (bacteria and viruses). Considerable effort was additionally spent on elucidating how the biological regulatory agents were able to specifically destroy their blue-green algal hosts.