Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand

Intense phytoplankton blooms often occur in the oxidation ponds of the Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project (LERD Project) royally initiated by His Majesty the King in Petchburi Province, Thailand. It is of concern that the bloom phytoplankton species may produce toxins that...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Ratcha Chaichana, Narouchit Dampin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Thai Society of Higher Eduction Institutes on Environment 2016-07-01
Series:EnvironmentAsia
Subjects:
Online Access:http://tshe.org/ea/pdf/vol9no2-18.pdf
_version_ 1811296447330516992
author Ratcha Chaichana
Narouchit Dampin
author_facet Ratcha Chaichana
Narouchit Dampin
author_sort Ratcha Chaichana
collection DOAJ
description Intense phytoplankton blooms often occur in the oxidation ponds of the Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project (LERD Project) royally initiated by His Majesty the King in Petchburi Province, Thailand. It is of concern that the bloom phytoplankton species may produce toxins that can cause illness in both humans and wildlife. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the species composition and abundance of the phytoplankton that caused the blooms. We also determined environmental variables (water and sediment) that promoted rapid development and dense growth of phytoplankton from three oxidation ponds in March 2014. The results revealed that nutrient concentrations in all three ponds were exceptionally high (total phosphorus of 2.9 ± 241 0.8 mg/L and total nitrogen of 5.3±2.4 mg/L). Furthermore, the blooms of phytoplankton were regulated mainly by nitrogen as a limiting factor. Environmental variables such as a high pH (8.8±0.6) and dissolved oxygen (10.1±2 mg/L), and low transparency (0.2±0.0 m) indicated that the intense blooms (chlorophyll a concentration of 260.6±97 µg/L) occurred during this investigation. The results of the phytoplankton study showed that cyanobacteria were the major group of phytoplankton recorded. Spirulina platensis was the most abundant species (866,410 cells/L) and was composed of more than 90% of all phytoplankton abundances. S. platensis is a non-toxic producer and in fact has high nutritional value that may be beneficial to aquatic fauna. The internal nutrient sources from the sediment played a less important role in promoting the growth of phytoplankton since the levels of organic matter and nutrient contents were low.
first_indexed 2024-04-13T05:48:36Z
format Article
id doaj.art-8fad384b356147d6bcaa4d2cf14cb7f2
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1906-1714
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-13T05:48:36Z
publishDate 2016-07-01
publisher Thai Society of Higher Eduction Institutes on Environment
record_format Article
series EnvironmentAsia
spelling doaj.art-8fad384b356147d6bcaa4d2cf14cb7f22022-12-22T02:59:52ZengThai Society of Higher Eduction Institutes on EnvironmentEnvironmentAsia1906-17142016-07-019215015710.14456/ea.2016.19Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, ThailandRatcha Chaichana 0Narouchit Dampin 1Department of Environmental Technology and Management, Faculty of Environment, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900 ThailandDepartment of Environmental Science, Faculty of Environment, Kasetsart University, Bangkok, 10900 ThailandIntense phytoplankton blooms often occur in the oxidation ponds of the Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project (LERD Project) royally initiated by His Majesty the King in Petchburi Province, Thailand. It is of concern that the bloom phytoplankton species may produce toxins that can cause illness in both humans and wildlife. Therefore, the main objective of this study was to investigate the species composition and abundance of the phytoplankton that caused the blooms. We also determined environmental variables (water and sediment) that promoted rapid development and dense growth of phytoplankton from three oxidation ponds in March 2014. The results revealed that nutrient concentrations in all three ponds were exceptionally high (total phosphorus of 2.9 ± 241 0.8 mg/L and total nitrogen of 5.3±2.4 mg/L). Furthermore, the blooms of phytoplankton were regulated mainly by nitrogen as a limiting factor. Environmental variables such as a high pH (8.8±0.6) and dissolved oxygen (10.1±2 mg/L), and low transparency (0.2±0.0 m) indicated that the intense blooms (chlorophyll a concentration of 260.6±97 µg/L) occurred during this investigation. The results of the phytoplankton study showed that cyanobacteria were the major group of phytoplankton recorded. Spirulina platensis was the most abundant species (866,410 cells/L) and was composed of more than 90% of all phytoplankton abundances. S. platensis is a non-toxic producer and in fact has high nutritional value that may be beneficial to aquatic fauna. The internal nutrient sources from the sediment played a less important role in promoting the growth of phytoplankton since the levels of organic matter and nutrient contents were low.http://tshe.org/ea/pdf/vol9no2-18.pdfcyanobacteriaoxidation pondsphytoplanktonThailandwater quality
spellingShingle Ratcha Chaichana
Narouchit Dampin
Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand
EnvironmentAsia
cyanobacteria
oxidation ponds
phytoplankton
Thailand
water quality
title Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand
title_full Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand
title_fullStr Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand
title_full_unstemmed Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand
title_short Unialgal Blooms of Cyanobacteria in Oxidation Ponds of the King’s Royally Initiated Laem Phak Bia Environmental Research and Development Project, Thailand
title_sort unialgal blooms of cyanobacteria in oxidation ponds of the king s royally initiated laem phak bia environmental research and development project thailand
topic cyanobacteria
oxidation ponds
phytoplankton
Thailand
water quality
url http://tshe.org/ea/pdf/vol9no2-18.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT ratchachaichana unialgalbloomsofcyanobacteriainoxidationpondsofthekingsroyallyinitiatedlaemphakbiaenvironmentalresearchanddevelopmentprojectthailand
AT narouchitdampin unialgalbloomsofcyanobacteriainoxidationpondsofthekingsroyallyinitiatedlaemphakbiaenvironmentalresearchanddevelopmentprojectthailand