Prymnesium parvum from the river Oder near Hohenwutzen, 15.08.2022. C: Katrin Preuß, IGB
Scientists of the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) and the University of Vienna believe that natural causes for the mass development of algae are unlikely. Prymnesium parvum from the river Oder near Hohenwutzen, 15. C: Katrin Preuß, IGB - Recent investigations substantiate the suspicion that mass development of a toxic brackish water alga has taken place in the Oder River. This could have played a role in the massive death of fish, mussels, snails and possibly other animal species. The researchers still do not assume that this is a purely natural phenomenon, because the algae species Prymnesium parvum does not occur en masse in the affected sections of the Oder under natural conditions. For mass occurrence, it depends on salinity levels in this area, which can only be caused by industrial discharges. The Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB) had detected and microscopically identified the toxic brackish water alga in all samples taken from the middle Odra river in the last days, but the detection of the associated algal toxin was still pending.
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