Algae are the foundation of aquatic ecosystems. As primary producers they provide the initial input of energy in the food web, as food for zooplankton, macro-invertebrates and fish. Although essential for ecosystem health, because of their short lifecycle they can also be the first group to react to changes in water quality, or other disturbances. Changes in algal community can indicate changes in water chemistry and algal blooms may indicate excessive nutrient loading.
Whilst being a useful tool in water quality analysis, algal blooms can however also cause environmental and amenity problems causing taste and odour concerns, blocking pumps and filters or simply resulting in unsightly green water, brown scums on surfaces or floating rafts of blanket weed. They can also have a detrimental impact on ecosystems by shading out aquatic plants and causing rapid fluctuations in the level of dissolved oxygen within the water-body, which in serious cases can lead to fish kills.
Blooms of blue-green algae are a particular cause for concern, as these algae can produce toxins that can be harmful to recreational users of a water-body as well as pets and livestock. For these reasons algal monitoring is both a useful tool in general aquatic environmental management and essential for maintaining and protecting the amenity quality of water-bodies.
APEM PHYTOPLANKTON SERVICES
With a team of dedicated and fully trained laboratory staff, APEM can offer a range of phytoplankton and other algal analysis including:- Cell / unit counts
- Identification to the lowest necessary taxonomic level
- Photomicroscopy
- Chlorophyll analysis
- Collection of samples in the field using a variety of methods
- Biovolume / biomass estimates
- Determination of relative abundance and other community metrics
- Consultancy services including investigations of the potential for algal bloom development and the development of site specific management or remediation strategies
