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Managing and Preventing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs): Do We Know...
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Managing and Preventing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs): Do We Know Enough? (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine and Freshwater Toxins".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2025 | Viewed by 1162

Special Issue Editor

Dr. James S. Metcalf

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Brain Chemistry Labs, Institute for Ethnomedicine, Jackson, WY 83001, USA
2. Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green University, Bowling Green, OH 43403, USA
Interests: cyanobacteria; toxins; analysis; toxicology; toxin discovery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine and freshwater ecosystems are frequently populated with harmful cyanobacterial or algal blooms that can result in the closure of waterbodies, fisheries, and recreational areas, which would lead to significant impacts including economic effects from produce loss (e.g., fish and shellfish) and negative effects on tourism, as well as the closure of water treatment plants. Studying such blooms for many years has advanced our understanding of the risks associated with exposure to these organisms and the toxins they produce, including a greater understanding of the health risks associated with long-term exposure to these compounds. However, many uncertainties and gaps may still remain. This Special Issue aims to ask the question of whether we know enough regarding harmful cyanobacterial and algal blooms and what further fundamental and applied research studies are required. Examples of such issues may include the detection, monitoring, health risks, and treatment and mitigation solutions of blooms and toxins. Therefore, this Special Issue solicits manuscripts concerning all aspects of detection, risk assessment, and the management and prevention of harmful cyanobacterial and algal blooms, as well as novel and innovative practical solutions to fill the current gaps in knowledge and science.

This Special Issue will serve as the second edition of “Managing and Preventing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs): Do We Know Enough?”, which was edited in 2023 and resulted in four interesting publications.

Dr. James S. Metcalf
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • catchment
  • exposure
  • analysis
  • remediation
  • health surveillance

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Related Special Issue

Published Papers (2 papers)

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20 pages, 10410 KiB  
Article
Modeling Algal Toxin Dynamics and Integrated Web Framework for Lakes
by Özlem Baydaroğlu, Serhan Yeşilköy, Anchit Dave, Marc Linderman and Ibrahim Demir
Toxins 2025, 17(7), 338; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins17070338 - 3 Jul 2025
Abstract
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are one of the major environmental concerns, as they have various negative effects on public and environmental health, recreational services, and economics. HAB modeling is challenging due to inconsistent and insufficient data, as well as the nonlinear nature of [...] Read more.
Harmful algal blooms (HABs) are one of the major environmental concerns, as they have various negative effects on public and environmental health, recreational services, and economics. HAB modeling is challenging due to inconsistent and insufficient data, as well as the nonlinear nature of algae formation data. However, it is crucial for attaining sustainable development goals related to clean water and sanitation. From this point of view, we employed the sparse identification nonlinear dynamics (SINDy) technique to model microcystin, an algal toxin, utilizing dissolved oxygen as a water quality metric and evaporation as a meteorological parameter. SINDy is a novel approach that combines a sparse regression and machine learning method to reconstruct the analytical representation of a dynamical system. The model results indicate that MAPE values of approximately 2% were achieved in three out of four lakes, while the MAPE value of the remaining lake is 11%. Moreover, a model-driven and web-based interactive tool was created to develop environmental education, raise public awareness on HAB events, and produce more effective solutions to HAB problems through what-if scenarios. This interactive and user-friendly web platform allows tracking the status of HABs in lakes and observing the impact of specific parameters on harmful algae formation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing and Preventing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs): Do We Know Enough? (2nd Edition))
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25 pages, 723 KiB  
Systematic Review
Systematic Review on CyanoHABs in Central Asia and Post-Soviet Countries (2010–2024)
by Kakima Kastuganova, Galina Nugumanova and Natasha S. Barteneva
Toxins 2025, 17(5), 255; https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins17050255 - 20 May 2025
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Abstract
Cyanobacterial harmful blooms (CyanoHABs) in lakes, estuaries, and freshwater reser-voirs represent a significant risk to water authorities worldwide due to their cyanotoxins and economic impacts. The duration, spread, and severity of CyanoHABs have markedly increased over the past decades. The article addresses CyanoHABs, [...] Read more.
Cyanobacterial harmful blooms (CyanoHABs) in lakes, estuaries, and freshwater reser-voirs represent a significant risk to water authorities worldwide due to their cyanotoxins and economic impacts. The duration, spread, and severity of CyanoHABs have markedly increased over the past decades. The article addresses CyanoHABs, cyanotoxins, and monitoring methodologies in post-Soviet and Central Asian countries. This particular region was selected for the systematic review due to its relative lack of representation in global CyanoHABs reporting, particularly in Central Asia. The main aim of this systematic review was to analyze the primary literature available from 2010–2024 to examine the current situation of CyanoHAB detection, monitoring, and management in Central Asia and post-Soviet countries. Following a detailed database search in several selected data-bases (Google Scholar, Pubmed, Web of Science (WOS), Scopus, Elibrary, ENU, and KazNU) along with additional hand searching and citation searching, 121 primary articles reporting 214 local cyanobacterial bloom cases were selected for this review. Aquatic cyanotoxins were reported in water bodies of eight countries, including high concentrations of microcystins that often exceeded reference values established by the World Health Organization (WHO). Advancing monitoring efforts in Baltic countries, Belarus, and the Russian Federation differed from only a few Central Asian reports. However, Central Asian aquatic ecosystems are especially threatened by rising anthropogenic pressures (i.e., water use, intensive agriculture, and pollution), climate change, and the lack of adequate ecological surveillance. We hypothesize that recent Caspian seal mass mortality events have been caused by a combination of infection (viral or bacterial) and exposure to algal neurotoxins resulting from harmful algal blooms of Pseudo-nitzschia. We conclude that there is an urgent need to improve the assessment of cyanobacterial blooms in Central Asia and post-Soviet countries. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Managing and Preventing Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs): Do We Know Enough? (2nd Edition))
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