Topic: Investigating the Causes and Mitigation of Harmful Algal Blooms, Including Red Tide, in South Florida

Harmful algal blooms occur in many different conditions from freshwater cyanobacteria blooms such as those that occur annually in Lake Erie and thousands of other bodies of water to red tide blooms that are limited to saltwater conditions. In August 2018 my lab was able to take samples on two days of extensive red tide pollution near Ft Myers Beach in SW Florida and take samples indicating both the strength of the blooms but also for isotope analysis to see if there was a connection between upstream freshwater sources and downstream red tide blooms.  Our research, limited by the few number of samples that had adequate nitrate in the blooms suggested that there was not a connection between the polluted waters of Lake Okeechobee and the red tide. But our analysis did suggest that the cause of the red tide bloom was “nitrate fertilizer.” The source of this fertilizer could be either from industrial scale agriculture or from urban lawns. Using wetlands and a new approach we have named “wetlaculture” that includes a landscape with wetlands and agriculture working in ecological partnership will be described. These wetlands are capable of removing both nitrogen and phosphorus from polluted runoff so they can potentially solve both saltwater and freshwater algal blooms. We also are investigating a business model that will allow environmental bonds to finance both wetland creation/restoration and compensation to farmers if they convert some of their land to remove nutrients from watersheds.