Download the research plan here!

The Global Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (GEOHAB) programme was initiated in 1999 by the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research (SCOR) and the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO to develop a research programme on the ecological and oceanographic mechanisms underlying the population dynamics of harmful algal blooms (HABs). The end goal of this programme is to allow the development of observation systems and models that will enable prediction of HABs, thereby reducing their impacts on the health of humans and marine organisms, as well as their economic and social impacts on societies. The GEOHAB Implementation Plan (GEOHAB, 2003) specifies the formation of Core Research Projects (CRPs) related to four ecosystem types—upwelling systems, fjords and coastal embayments, eutrophied systems, and stratified systems. This report summarizes the Open Science Meeting (OSM) held in April 2004 and provides the proceedings, progress and synthesis of research efforts on the study of HABs in fjords and other coastal embayments. At this OSM, participants had the opportunity to present and discuss research findings in a variety of coastal embayments and to begin the development of a research agenda for coordinated studies. The meeting served to identify interested participants and research regions and to bring together the international community to design core research. Meeting participants discussed a wide variety of research topics related to HABs in these coastal systems, which the Core Research Committee distilled into seven key questions:

– Are there definable adaptive strategies that characterize HAB species in confined and semi-confined systems?

– What is the importance of life history transitions and cyst distribution in bloom initiation and maintenance — endogenous seed beds versus exogenous introduction?

– How do physical dispersion and aggregation processes within a semi-confined basin affect HAB growth and distribution?

– What is the relative contribution of nutrient flux and supply ratios to HAB dynamics in eutrophic versus non-eutrophic coastal embayments?

– What is the importance of spatial scale and retention time in the expression and effects of allelochemicals/toxins in semi-confined systems?

– How do embayment morphology, bathymetry and hydrodynamic flux affect HAB dynamics?

– Are the effects of anthropogenic activities (e.g. aquaculture) and global climate change on HAB dynamics magnified in enclosed and semi-enclosed embayments?

Our understanding of and ability to predict HABs in coastal embayments over the next 5-10 years will reflect the extent to which this GEOHAB CRP can answer these questions. The practical implementation of Core Research activities in coastal embayments has advanced since field work was initiated in 2005.