Thesis (Ph. D.)--Oregon State University, 2007. / Printout. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-148). Also available on the World Wide Web.

Cyanobacterial blooms are becoming more frequent worldwide, with possible negative effects on human health. The effects of climate change and eutrophication have been associated with persistent cyanobacterial blooms becoming more frequent. Altered water characteristics, salinity in particular, influence ecosystem dynamics that may lead to conditions conducive to cyanobacterial blooms. The occurrence of an 18-month long Cyanothece sp. bloom (the longest for any cyanobacterium recorded so far worldwide and the first of the genus) from June 2009 to December 2010 in Africa’s largest estuarine lake, St Lucia, highlighted the susceptibility of ecosystems to anthropogenic alterations. This study investigated the long-term survival and physiological adaptations of Cyanothece sp. to various and dynamic environmental conditions that contributed towards its bloom persistence. The main findings are the high salinities at which Cyanothece sp. could perform important physiological processes such as N uptake, N2 fixation and photosynthesis. Nutrient uptake (both nitrogen and phosphorus) was observed over the full experimental salinity range (0-300) while N2 fixation was only observed up to a salinity of 120. Nutrient uptake rates significantly decreased at this threshold salinity of 120. Interestingly, photosystem II activity was not observed in Cyanothece sp. during this study, but photosystem I activity was robust. Salinity had a minor influence on electron transport rates by photosystem I, high temperature (> 30°C) did however increase electron transport rates. Rapid responses to hypo-osmotic shock (i.e. osmotic downshift during freshening events) by Cyanothece sp. cells also helped minimize cell rupture due to high turgor pressure. Zooplankton abundance within the St Lucia system was negatively correlated with salinity, while grazing experiments indicated that the typical estuarine zooplankton species are able to graze on Cyanothece sp. cells. Therefore, the disappearance of zooplankton at salinities above 60 must have been an important factor in the bloom persistence. Apart from the ecological factors that were at play in St Lucia during the bloom period, the persistence of the Cyanothece sp. bloom can be attributed to the robust nature of their nutrient uptake, nitrogen fixation and photosynthetic systems to maintain activity despite extreme hypersalinity levels.

published_or_final_version / Ecology and Biodiversity / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a nearly-annual phytoplankton bloom forms near the subtropical front at ~30° N. Mixed communities of nitrogen-fixing diatom symbioses (diatom-diazotroph associations) increase 10²-10³ fold in these blooms. In July 2008 (31.46˚N 140.49˚W) and August 2009 (25.18 °N 154 °W), two blooms were sampled to determine diatom-diazotroph association species composition, physical, and chemical characteristics of the water column. In both 2008 and 2009, the dominant diatom-diazotroph association was the Hemiaulus hauckii-Richelia intracellularis symbiosis. The 2009 subtropical front bloom was missed; however, another bloom closer to Hawaii was sampled where diatom-diazotroph association abundance was 10-fold lower (10² cells Lˉ¹) than 2008 despite surface chlorophyll a values that were 3 times greater. Both blooms showed substantial changes in phytoplankton size structure with the >10 μm size chlorophyll a fraction increasing from 10 to 40 % in 2008. In the 2009 bloom, the non-symbiotic pennate diatom Mastogloia woodiana numerically dominated (>150,000 cells Lˉ¹) and formed aggregates that resulted in substantially higher % of netplankton chlorophyll a fractions. Summer open ocean blooms from the two years share a common trend of Hemiaulus dominance of the diatom-diazotroph association population and size structure changes. However, non-symbiotic species can dominate the overall bloom, and diatom-diazotroph association species may not be responsible for the chlorophyll a increase. These two years may represent different types of blooms or temporal changes within summer diatom blooms. The increased biomass in the larger-size fraction suggests these blooms are potential sites for carbon export from the surface layer. / text

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin, 1949. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-159).

Master of Science / Department of Biological & Agricultural Engineering / Philip L. Barnes / Bloom-forming cyanobacteria are harmful to both environment and public health because of the release of water soluble toxins. This report provides a broad overview of cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins and the current state of knowledge about the bloom control management. Cyanobacteria blooms usually flourish in warm, lentic, and eutrophic waters. Several environmental factors such as temperature, nutrients, light intensity, and turbulence can affect cyanobacterial growth and the formation of bloom. Cyanobacteria can synthesize multiple types of toxins, which cause human and animal toxications worldwide. Cyanobacterial blooms also cause detrimental effects on aquatic ecosystems, and the taste and odor problems in drinking water supplies. Due to the adverse effects, treatments that are used for removing both cyanobacterial cells and aqueous cyanotoxins should be carried out once cyanobacterial blooms occur in freshwaters. Strategies based on physical, chemical, and biological methods are carried out to remove the cyanobacteria and cyanotoxins. All of these strategies have both advantages and disadvantages: some physical treatment methods can remove cyanotoxins within the intact molecules, but the cost is usually high and further processing is needed; some chemical methods are cheap and can degrade the cyanotoxins, however, the toxicological characterization of the chemical and the by-products needs to be investigated; some biological treatments are more environmentally friendly, but the long reaction time and some other external factors also pose some problems that affect the efficiency of the treatments. The paper concludes that the key to success is to find a reasonable balance between those advantages and disadvantages, and the specific conditions of each unique aquatic ecosystem should be taken into consideration. As well, some suggestions are also proposed for the further development of more robust monitoring and management strategies.

No description available.

Enligt Skolverkets utlåtande för antagningen år 2016/2017 söker sig allt fler elever till Ekonomiprogrammet. Ökningen med 1200 elever motsvarar 9 %, och visar att Ekonomiprogrammet är ett av de högskoleförberedande program som har ökat mest. Uppsatsens syfte är att enligt Blooms taxonomi belysa samt identifiera de kunskapsnivåer som utmärker elever som behärskar ekonomiska ämnen på gymnasienivå. I den teoretiska delen av uppsatsen presenteras Blooms taxonomi, där den ursprungliga modellen från Bloom är kort presenterad, medan den reviderade modellen av Krathwohl presenteras mer omfattande med hänsyn till att uppsatsen utgår från Krathwohl reviderade teori. Uppsatsen har en positivistisk syn och är grundad på den kvalitativa datainsamlingsmetoden i form av intervjufrågor som utgår direkt från Krathwohls teori. Datasammansättningen genomfördes enligt forskningsfrågornas struktur där datareduktionen, dataanalysen och dataverifieringen är presenterad under empiriska data enligt frågeställningarna. Resultaten av uppsatsen visar att två faktorer ur Blooms taxonomi användes mer frekvent. Förståelsen och Tillämpningen ur den kognitiva processen anses vara de kunskapstyper som används mest av pedagoger som undervisar i ekonomiska ämnen. Vidare lyfts i diskussionen tendenser som pekar på att pedagogernas syn på nödvändig kunskap kan vara beroende av hur komplex den själva ekonomiska kursen är. Beroende av vilken kurs man ansvarar för kan detta alltså påverka vilken typ av kunskap pedagogerna anser kan vara avgörande för att eleverna ska klara ämnet.

Memoria para optar al Título Profesional de Ingeniero Forestal / Didymosphenia geminata (Didymo) es una microalga bentónica declarada plaga en el año 2013 por la Subsecretaria de Pesca. Esta tiene una amplia distribución en Chile, encontrándose desde la Región del Biobío hacia el sur del país. Las floraciones de esta especie, ocupan una alta proporción de la superficie de los ríos, alcanzando incluso un 100% de cobertura. Debido a los altos costos ambientales y económicos que provoca la presencia de la especie, es necesario determinar su potencial de expansión en el país y, de esta manera poder enfocar los esfuerzos para su control en las zonas más críticas. Es así como el objetivo de esta memoria fue estudiar la distribución actual y potencial de la microalga D. geminata en Chile. De este modo, mediante el uso de distintas variables bioclimáticas, ambientales y geográficas fue posible determinar la distribución potencial de la especie, encontrando que ésta tiene alta probabilidad de expandir su presencia por varias regiones del país. Este procedimiento se llevó a cabo con el algoritmo MAXENT, el cual fue escogido gracias a las buenas predicciones que ha presentado para esta especie con respecto a otros métodos. Por otro lado, se determinó que las variables que más incidencia tienen en la presencia de la especie son la variabilidad estacional, flujo acumulado y la precipitación del periodo más seco del año. / Didymosphenia geminata (Didymo) is a benthic microalgae, declared as a plague in 2013 by the Subsecretaria de Pesca. This species has a wide distribution in Chile, from Biobío Region towards the south of the country. The bloom of this species, occupy a high proportion of the rivers surface, reaching even a 100% of coverage. Due to the high environmental and economic costs caused by the presence of the species, it is necessary to determine its potential expansion in the country and, in this way, it being able to focus all efforts for controlling it in the most critical areas. Thus, the objective of this report was studying the current and potential distribution of D. geminata microalgae in Chile. Therefore, through the use of various bioclimatic, environmental and geographic variables it was possible to define the potential distribution of the species, concluding that it has a high probability of expanding its presence in several regions of the country. This procedure was carried out using the MAXENT algorithm, which was chosen due to the good predictions presented for this species with respect to others methods. On the other hand, it was determined that the variables which are most incidental in the presence of the species are seasonal variability, and the flow and precipitation accumulation in the driest quarter of the year. / Diciembre 2018

Thesis (M.Tech.)--Cape Technikon, 1996. / Bibliography: leaf 111-121. Also available online.