Toxic algal blooms – a sign of rivers under stress

Useful Sites

Special article – Blue-green algae (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

A general coverage of blue-green algae (cyanobacteria). Explains what they are, how they affect our health and methods of control.

Algal blooms (Water and Rivers Commission, Western Australia)

Presents general information, public health concerns and ecological problems associated with algal blooms (eg, 'What are algae?', 'Health warning' and 'The role of algae in waterways').

Harmful algal blooms (Queensland Government Environment and Resource Management)

Provides comprehensive information regarding algal blooms in both freshwater and coastal environments.

FACT Sheet: Blue-green algae in the River Murray (Murray Darling Basin Authority)
Information about algal blooms throughout the River Murray.

CSIROnline Australia

Algal blooms
An information sheet covering topics such as 'What causes an algal bloom?' and 'Different kinds of algal blooms and their effects'.

Phoslock
Links to information on a product developed by CSIRO that removes soluble phosphorus from water sources.

NSW algal information (New South Wales Department of Natural Resources, Australia)

Provides a map of locations experiencing algal blooms and other information about algal blooms.

Waterwatch (Waterwatch Victoria, Australia)

Waterwatch is a national volunteer water quality monitoring program. This site is divided into a number of sections including 'Water fun', which has an interactive habitat survey; and 'For the teacher', which contains manuals on water quality monitoring.

The toxic cyanobacteria home page (Purdue University, USA)

Covers different types of cyanobacteria and the kinds of toxins they produce.

Blue green algae: A guide (CRC for Water Quality and Treatment)

A helpful fact sheet about blue green algal blooms.

Waterwatch Australia (Natural Heritage Trust)

The 'Waterwatch library' has a number of publications, including Preparing a Waterwatch action plan and Starting a Waterwatch group.

External sites are not endorsed by the Australian Academy of Science.
Page updated February 2012.