Quantifying Karenia brevis bloom severity and respiratory irritation impact along the shoreline of Southwest Florida.

ABSTRACT: Nearly all annual blooms of the toxic dinoflagellate Karenia brevis (K. brevis) pose a serious threat to coastal Southwest Florida. These blooms discolor water, kill fish and marine mammals, contaminate shellfish, cause mild to severe respiratory irritation, and discourage tourism and recreational activities, leading to significant health and economic impacts in affected communities. Despite these issues, we still lack standard measures suitable for assessing bloom severity or for evaluating the efficacy of modeling efforts simulating bloom initiation and intensity. In this study, historical cell count observations along the southwest Florida shoreline from 1953 to 2019 were used to develop monthly and annual bloom severity indices (BSI). Similarly, respiratory irritation observations rout

SUBMITTER: Stumpf RP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8730426 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature