Toxic Cyanobacteria (blue-green algae)

My original research area was primarily concerned with computer simulation of the growth and movement of problem cyanobacterial blooms and strategies for their management. I was lucky to work with colleagues such as Colin Reynolds at the Institute of Freshwater Ecology in Windermere and mentors Pauline Kneale, Mike Kirkby and Adrian McDonald at Leeds. My PhD students including Basak Guven and Mark Easthope carried this work forward and have excelled in their own careers.

Selected publications

2012 Howard, A. Toxic Cyanobacteria in Bengstsson, L., Herschy, R. and Fairbridge, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lakes and Reservoirs. Springer. ISBN 9781402056161.

2011 Guven, B. and Howard, A. Sensitivity analysis of a cyanobacterial growth and movement model under two different flow regimes, Environmental Modeling and Assessment. 16:577-589.

2007 Guven, B. and Howard, A. Identifying the critical parameters of a cyanobacterial growth and movement model by using generalised sensitivity analysis Ecological Modelling, 207, 11-21.

2007 Guven, B. and Howard, A. Modelling the growth and movement of cyanobacteria in river systems Science of the Total Environment, 368, 898-908.

2006 Guven, B. and Howard, A. A review and classification of the existing models of cyanobacteria Progress in Physical Geography, 30, 1-24.

2003 Burton, L.R. Howard, A. & Goodall, B. Construction of a historical Water Pollution Index for the Mersey Basin, Area, 35:4.

2002 Howard, A. & Easthope, M.P. Application of a model to predict cyanobacterial growth patterns in response to climatic change at Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire, UK, The Science of the Total Environment, 282-283, 459-469.

2001 Howard, A. Modelling movement patterns of the cyanobacterium, Microcystis, Ecological Applications: the journal of the Ecological Society of America, 11, 304-310.

1999 Howard, A. Algal Modelling: Processes and Management: An Introduction, Hydrobiologia, 414, 35-37

1999 Howard, A. (ed) Algal Modelling: Processes & Management, Hydrobiologia, 414.

1999 Easthope, M.P. & Howard, A. Modelling algal dynamics in a lowland impoundment, Science of the Total Environment. 241, 17-25.

1999 Easthope, M.P. & Howard, A. Implementation and sensitivity analysis of a model of cyanobacterial movement and growth, Hydrobiologia, 414, 53-58.

1997 Whitehead, P.G. Howard, A. & Arulmani, C. Modelling algal growth and transport in rivers: a comparison of time series analysis, dynamic mass balance, and neural network techniques, Hydrobiologia, 347: 39-46.

1997 Kneale, P.E. & Howard, A. Statistical analysis of algal and water quality data, Hydrobiologia, 347: 59-63.

1997 Howard, A. Computer simulation modelling of buoyancy change in Microcystis, Hydrobiologia, 349: 111-117.

1997 Howard, A. Algal Modelling: Processes & Management. Editorial Preface. Hydrobiologia, 349:vii-ix.

1996 Howard, A. McDonald, A.T. Kneale, P.E. & Whitehead, P.G. Cyanobacterial (blue-green algal) blooms in the UK: A review of the current situation and potential management options, Progress in Physical Geography, 20, 63-81.

1996 Howard, A. Irish, A.E. & Reynolds, C.S. SCUM ’96: A new simulation of cyanobacterial underwater movement, Journal of Plankton Research, 18, 1375-1385.

1995 Howard, A. Kirkby, M.J., Kneale, P.E. & McDonald, A.T. Modelling the growth of cyanobacteria (GrowSCUM), Hydrological Processes, 9, 809-820.

1994 Howard, A. Problem cyanobacterial blooms – explanation and simulation modelling, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, 19, 213-224.

1993 Howard, A. SCUM – simulation of cyanobacterial underwater movement, Computer Applications in the Biosciences, 9, 413-419.

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• Cyanobacteria can utilize toxic guanidine as a nitrogen source
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• How marine viruses help fuel underwater oxygen-rich zones
  Newly published interdisciplinary research led by the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and University of Maryland shows that viral infection of blue-green algae in the ocean stimulates productivity in the ecosystem and contributes to a rich band of oxygen in the water.
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• Image: Algae swirls across a South African reservoir
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• Filamentous algae blooms alter river ecosystems without disrupting overall function
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• Summer storms increase the risk of cyanobacterial blooms in clear water lakes
  Researchers at the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) have investigated how summer storms change the ecology of deep, clear lakes in a large-scale experiment in the LakeLab at Lake Stechlin. They simulated the effects of a storm in the experimental cylinders of the lake laboratory, in which the water column was […]
• Researchers uncover synchronous ecological collapse across Paleotethys Ocean during Permian–Triassic transition
  A research team from the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS), in collaboration with international partners, has completed a high-resolution biomarker analysis of the Zal section in northwest Iran. This study uncovers new insights into ecological disruption and microbial community shifts across the Permian–Triassic (P–T) transition in the […]