Deadly toxic algae (Klamath River)

After having praised algae so much lately and the potential of algae as a biofuel I thought it was about time that I highlighted some of the negative effects that algae can have and that not all algae are good. Some algae can have negative effects and even be toxic which is why it is important to keep algae growth in check in aquarium and ponds. This is true not only if you have fish or other animals in the pond but else way as well as some algae (although rare in tanks and ponds) can make the water toxic to drink for animals and humans.

Below you can watch a video about the negative effect algae can have on a body of water (Klamath River) and the life in and around it. Algae in parts of the Klamath River is in fact toxic for humans to drink.

What are they?

Algae are small plants without true leaves or roots. They are small evolutionary very simple organisms that contain chlorophyll which allows them to convert sunlight into energy. In everyday speech the term algae is very broad and it is hard to define it well but it refers to single celled plants that may or may not be grouped together in colonies. The term algae is the plural form. The singular form is alga.

Many algae reproduce using spores. Some algae have sexual reproduction. This sexual reproduction can be very simple, the algae themselves act as gamates or more advanced involving the algae version of eggs and sperm.

It is unknown exactly how many species of algae there is as new species are discovered every year.

Algae of one kind or another have been around for more than 2 billion years.

Hello world!

Welcome to my blogg. Here you will find info on algae and algae control. Learn more about different type of algae and how to fight them.