please explain why algae blooms are harmful to normal clean - water organisms?

Answer 1

To answer this question simply, algae being plants, take up oxygen from the water. The algae simply compete with other organisms in the water for oxygen. This results in a dramatic fall in the dissolved oxygen content of the water. As a result there is less amount of oxygen for the fish. Due to this, one finds dead fishes in an area of algae bloom. Some algae may also release metabolic waste products into the water which maybe toxic to other organisms.

Answer 2

In addition to using up all the food and oxygen needed by other organisms living in the water, some species of algae responsible for Algal blooms produce neurotoxins. At the high cell concentrations reached during some blooms, these toxins may have severe biological impacts on wildlife. Algal blooms composed of phytoplankters known to naturally produce biotoxins are often called Harmful Algal Blooms, or HABs.

Answer 3

Actually, it's a little more complex than algae taking oxygen out of the water, since they use carbon dioxide for photosynthesis.

What happens is, when all that algae dies, they fall to the bottom and are decomposed by bacteria. It is the bacteria that uses up the oxygen - not the algae. In the summer when the water in lakes doesn't cycle, this can lead to anoxic waters, which can kill fish and other organisms that need oxygen to survive.

Answer 4

Hi don basically algae takes the oxygen out of the water in a nutshell, IE too much will covert oxygen into nitrates/nitrites