Historical Occurrence of Algal Blooms in the Northern Beibu Gulf of China and Implications for Future Trends.

ABSTRACT: Large-scale harmful algal blooms (HABs) occur in the coastal waters of the northern Beibu Gulf, China, and have deleterious effects on the marine ecosystem. The frequency, duration, and extent of HAB events in this region have increased over the last 30 years. However, the underlying causes of HABs and their likely future trends are unclear. To investigate, we evaluated historical data for temporal trends of HABs in the Beibu Gulf, and association with environmental factors as possible drivers. The results confirmed that HAB events had increased in frequency, from 6 reported events during the period 1985-2000, to 13 during 2001-2010, and 20 during 2011-2017. We also found that the geographic scale of algal blooms had increased from tens of km2 to hundreds of km2. There were temporal change

SUBMITTER: Xu Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6424905 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature