We will examine harmful algal blooms (HABS) at three different study sites to understand the benefits and costs of changes in the frequency, extent, and duration of HABs in representative marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes contexts.
Why We Care
HABs in coastal areas can have socioeconomic costs that impact recreation behavior, property markets, tourism, human health, and overall quality of life. While HABs commonly occur in marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes coastal areas, different species of algae are of concern in different regions, costs occur at multiple temporal and spatial scales, and the distributional consequences of HABs are likely to vary with location and the type of cost.
What We Are Doing
We will examine HABs at three different study sites to understand the benefits and costs of changes in the frequency, extent, and duration of HABs in representative marine, estuarine, and Great Lakes contexts; assess which costs can be mitigated through adaption possibilities enabled by monitoring and forecasting; characterize the distribution of costs and the benefits of HAB mitigation efforts; and develop benefit-cost analysis capabilities for assessing HAB reduction policies. The study sites include two estuarine/marine sites (the west coast of Florida, centered on Tampa Bay, and the Long Island region) and a Great Lakes site (the Green Bay system).
Benefits of Our Work
This project will provide a holistic assessment of the costs of HABs at three different study sites. Results will provide data that can be used by managers to inform the design of monitoring and warning systems to minimize recreational and health impacts and inform future harmful algal bloom prevention, control, and mitigations strategies.
The project is led by Daniel Phanuef at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, in collaboration with David Keiser at Yale University, and Caterine Kling, Sheila Olmstead, and Wendong Zhang at Cornell University and is funded by the NCCOS Social, Cultural, and Economic Assessment of Harmful Algal Blooms (SEAHAB) program.