This dissertation enhancement proposal supports the research of Ms. Mirta Teichberg, under the supervision of Dr. Ivan Valiela, Boston University, to work with Dr. Thais N. Corbisier at the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, and with Dr. Oscar O. Iribarne at the National University of Mar del Plata in Argentina. This research will look at how changes in nutrient supply or grazing pressure set the stage for blooms of green, red, or brown macroalgae in a variety of temperate and tropical coastal environments that capture the range of bloom phenomena in shallow coastal waters of the world. This support will allow Ms. Teichberg to carry out research on macroalgae in the south coast of Brazil and the South Atlantic Coast of Argentina. The planned experiments will lead to knowledge about the potential for macroalgal blooms in a highly diverse, high-rainfall, tropical, and a biotically limited desert-like temperate environment. The PI has studied the algal bloom problem in the U.S., and this project will now add South America's wet-warm and dry-temperate sites for comparison. Algal blooms are harmful because they cause anoxic conditions and the loss of commercial species, such as shellfish.
The results of the study will help inform management practices to prevent large macroalgal blooms from occurring in these regions.
