Blue Green algae is dangerous for animals and humans

                                                                                   [image credit FWC, 2018]

Living in South Florida, we are all too familiar with the blue green algae that can be found today in all of Florida's freshwater and brackish habitats – lakes, rivers and estuaries. This blue green algae, also known as Cyanobacteria can cause health issues for both humans and animals.

Nutrient pollution from agricultural and urban runoff causes the majority of freshwater cyanobacteria blooms. Other conditions that contribute to blooms are stagnant water resulting from a lack of natural flushing and land clearing. Cyanobacteria blooms can destroy submerged vegetation like seagrass by blocking sunlight. Blooms can also reduce oxygen availability to other aquatic organisms and introduce toxins that pass through the food chain. Toxins produced by cyanobacteria can be harmful to humans, affecting the liver (hepatotoxins), the nervous system (neurotoxins) and skin (dermatotoxins) [FWC, 2018].

Veterinary toxicologist, Steve Ensley, stated that when animals are exposed to this toxin, they may experience vomiting or diarrhea. If the cyanobacteria exposure is severe, it can be lethal and cause liver failure in animals [Anderson, 2018]. Animals should be kept away from any waters thought to have this algae present and livestock ponds should be monitored on a regular basis.

For more information on Cyanobacteria and water pollutants, you can follow the links below: [accessed on 6/27/2018]

Cyanobacteria Blooms FAQs [CDC]

Introduction to the Cyanobacteria  [UC Berkley]

Cyanobacteria/Cyanotoxins   [EPA]

For Research on Cyanobacteria [Purdue]

Cyanobacterial (Blue-Green Algal) Blooms: Tastes, Odors, and Toxins [USGS]

water walk

wateraid.org

Dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico is growing larger

What is a marine dead zone? Also known as hypoxia, it is an area in the ocean with such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies, hence the name dead zone. “Hypoxic zones can occur naturally, but scientists are concerned about the areas created or enhanced by human activity (NOAA). 

There are many physical, chemical, and biological factors that combine to create dead zones, but nutrient pollution is the primary cause of those zones created by humans. Excess nutrients that run off land or are piped as wastewater into rivers and coasts can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, which then sinks and decomposes in the water. The decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life” [NOAA https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html ].

Scientists predict that the Gulf dead zone will cover about 6,620 square miles of the bottom of the continental shelf off Louisiana and Texas. The Gulf dead zone is the second largest HUMAN CAUSED one in the world. Science daily reported that “Efforts to reduce the nitrate loading have not yet demonstrated success at the watershed scale” 

[https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180607120724.htm ]. The dead zone is present all year long, but is most prevalent during spring and summer, citing nutrients from the Mississippi River watershed contribute to the problem.

To read the full report go to Science Daily story here.

Map showing distribution of bottom-water dissolved oxygen from July 28 to August 3, west of the Mississippi River delta. Black lined areas — areas in red to deep red — have very little dissolved oxygen. (Data: Nancy Rabalais, LUMCON; R Eugene Turner, LSU. Credit: NOAA)

New emerging global coronavirus in pigs has the potential to transmit to humans.

Image: By Johan Spaedtke - Own work, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=26954959

The Porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV), identified in 2012, is a common enteropathogen of swine with worldwide distribution. The evolutionary cycle/origin of this virus is still unknown.  The PDCoV has predominantly been associated with avian CoV. Analysis suggests that PDCoV has experienced a host-switching event between birds and mammals.

The porcine deltacoronavirus (PDCoV) (species name coronavirus HKU15) was identified in Hong Kong in pigs in the late 2000s  and has since been detected in swine populations in various countries worldwide (Wentao, et al., 2018). The virus can cause acute diarrhea and vomiting, and can sometimes be fatal.

Due to the presumed origin in avian species and the known cross-species transmission of CoVs, researchers began to investigate the susceptibility of cell lines other than swine to this PDCoV infection. They began to test cell lines derived from human and galline tissues. They found both were susceptible to PDCoV infection

“Successful cross-species transmission depends foremost on the virus’ ability to bind and functionally use a receptor within an alternative host, causing the S protein to be the driver of CoV emergence” (Wentao, et. al, 2018). Due to the fact that pigs are the second largest global livestock species, and the potential for them to spread zoonotic diseases; this study sheds light on the importance of further study.

To read the FULL STUDY on this research please follow the link at PNAS here: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802879115

Reference:

Wentao Li, Ruben J. G. Hulswit, Scott P. Kenney, Ivy Widjaja, Kwonil Jung, Moyasar A. Alhamo, Brenda van Dieren, Frank J. M. van Kuppeveld, Linda J. Saif, and Berend-Jan Bosch, 2018. Broad receptor engagement of an emerging global coronavirus may potentiate its diverse cross-species transmissibility

PNAS https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802879115

Field trip to Pine Glades Natural Area

The Field biology class took a field trip to Pine Glades Natural Area for a swamp buggy tour and two field survey activities led by staff biologists.

The biologists let students participate in some of their management/monitoring activities . One group learned how to do line transect plant surveys, monitoring plant abundance. They spoke about the different methods of habitat restoration [mechanical, chemical and fire]. This location uses a combination of all three methods in order to restore and maintain natural habitats. Along with methods, students learned about community, agency and cooperative efforts that all play an important role in which method is used and when, along with overviews of all the permits and permissions required for maintaining natural habitats.

The second group of students learned how to use throw nets to survey and record what is living in the waters of the park. In this case, the "net" was netting on a square pvc cube that was placed to isolate sections of water. They then sieve out the water to see what species  are found. They record and continue this method until there are no more fish or arthropods in the net, then move on to another section. They found shrimp, crayfish and several fish species.

Along the swamp buggy tour students saw nesting  great white herons, swallowtail kites and even feral hogs. We have the pictures to prove it! Thanks to our hosts for another great field trip.

Conservation photography workshop at Riverwoods Field Lab

Join and learn about conservation photography at Riverwoods Field Lab.

Field Biology class visits Lion Country Safari

Tina Cloutier Barbour, Curator of Primates at Lion Country Safari, gave the class a tour of the drive through safari and then an in depth look at chimpanzees at the park. You can learn more about their chimps here and the ongoing research through the chimpanzoo program.

Tina talked about all the history and management efforts that are ongoing in each section of the safari, as we drove through. It was informative and interesting to get a behind the scene talk for each species we encountered. She spoke of all the regulations, breeding management, enrichment and enclosure efforts that are ongoing in the park. We learned about behavioral quirks for some of the species and how the staff handles them, efforts to improve the natural habitats of the animals and future plans and research that are in the works.

We then stopped at the research station for the chimpanzees, Tina’s specialty and main responsibility at Lion Country Safari.

Lion Country Safari is home to one of the largest displays of wild chimpanzees in North America. Their four island habitats are home to several generations of chimpanzees, which trace their roots back to east Africa. Though some of our chimpanzees are former house pets and actors, many have been born at Lion Country Safari and they are now all fully integrated into the complex social structure of each island troop and may be considered wild.