Thursday, May 19, 2022
SCIENMAG: Latest Science and Health News
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag - Latest science news from science magazine
No Result
View All Result
Home SCIENCE NEWS Biology

Improving predictions of bacteria in Ala Wai Canal, Hawai‘i

March 30, 2022
in Biology
0
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Recently published research led by University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa scientists highlights the potential for using oceanographic sensors to make accurate predictions of Vibrio vulnificus, an infectious bacterium, in the Ala Wai Canal in Waikiki, Hawai‘i. By assessing rainfall, water temperature, dissolved nutrients and organic matter the team now has the ability to forecast potential spikes in levels of the bacteria. 

Field expedition

Credit: Brian Glazer/ UH SOEST.

Recently published research led by University of Hawai‘i (UH) at Mānoa scientists highlights the potential for using oceanographic sensors to make accurate predictions of Vibrio vulnificus, an infectious bacterium, in the Ala Wai Canal in Waikiki, Hawai‘i. By assessing rainfall, water temperature, dissolved nutrients and organic matter the team now has the ability to forecast potential spikes in levels of the bacteria. 

V. vulnificus, a “flesh-eating” bacterium, lives naturally in the water of the Ala Wai Canal, but infections are rare. V. vulnificus has been relatively understudied in tropical ecosystems and further, the implications of climate change for this and other coastal human pathogens are generally unknown.

The research team collaborated with the UH Strategic Monitoring and Resilience Training in the Ala Wai Watershed (SMART Ala Wai Program) where at least 20 undergraduate students and six graduate students from the UH Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology participated in sample collection from the canal and processing at the Daniel K. Inouye Center for Microbial Oceanography: Research and Education.

Consistent with another recently published UH study, rainfall was found to be critically important for both elevating the pathogen’s abundance in the canal and transporting V. vulnificus to the adjacent Ala Wai Boat Harbor.

“We also found that measuring the amount of a particular kind of dissolved organic matter in the water significantly improved our model’s accuracy in predicting V. vulnificus abundance,” said lead author Jessica Bullington, who was pursuing her Master’s degree in the SOEST Department of Oceanography at the time of this work.

Ocean sensors provide necessary data

Water quality monitoring that involves collecting samples and analyzing them in a laboratory is expensive and often limited to select locations. Fortunately, there are oceanographic sensors that continuously monitor water quality at the mouth of the Ala Wai Canal.

“What is really exciting about our research findings is the ability to use real-time and forecast data from the Pacific Islands Ocean Observing System (PacIOOS)—which includes water temperature, salinity, currents, and dissolved organic matter—to predict V. vulnificus abundance in the canal and harbor now and three days into the future,” said Bullington, who is now a doctoral student at Stanford University. “The next steps are to make these predictions accessible and communicate the risk of infection, both for short-term use and adaptation to the impacts of climate change.”

Warmer waters as climate changes

Because V. vulnificus abundance was higher when temperatures were warmer, and climate change is predicted to increase water temperature in the Ala Wai Canal, the researchers anticipate V. vulnifucus is likely to increase substantially in the canal in the coming decades.

By combining climate change projections of rainfall and air temperature with their computer model of bacteria dynamics, the team found that average V. vulnificus abundance in the canal may increase twice or three times current levels by the end of the century. Armed with this information, communities can make decisions on how to adapt to the changing conditions.

“Ultimately, we wanted to generate something that would be useful for people,” said Bullington. “This project is a great example of one of the many ways in which our departmental expertise can be of service for our local community and coastal management.”



Journal

Science of The Total Environment

DOI

10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.154075

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Refining real-time predictions of Vibrio vulnificus concentrations in a tropical urban estuary by incorporating dissolved organic matter dynamics

Article Publication Date

24-Feb-2022

COI Statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Tags: AlaBacteriacanalHawaiiimprovingpredictionsWai
Share26Tweet16Share4ShareSendShare
  • Gladstone scientists Tongcui Ma, Irene Chen, and Rahul Suryawanshi.

    “Natural immunity” from omicron is weak and limited, study finds

    68 shares
    Share 27 Tweet 17
  • Researchers discover genetic cause of megaesophagus in dogs

    1022 shares
    Share 409 Tweet 256
  • Scripps Research awarded $67 million by NIH to lead new Pandemic Preparedness Center

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Do early therapies help very young children with or at high likelihood for autism?

    66 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 17
  • Ecological functions of streams and rivers severely affected globally

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • Null results research now published by major behavioral medicine journal

    310 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
ADVERTISEMENT

About us

We bring you the latest science news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Latest NEWS

Understanding how sunscreens damage coral

SUTD develops design-based activity to enhance students’ understanding in electrochemistry

New Curtin research resurrects ‘lost’ coral species

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 187 other subscribers

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

No Result
View All Result
  • HOME PAGE
  • BIOLOGY
  • CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
  • MEDICINE
    • Cancer
    • Infectious Emerging Diseases
  • SPACE
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • CONTACT US

© 2022 Scienmag- Science Magazine: Latest Science News.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
Posting....