A central challenge of coastal ecology is sorting out the interacting spatial and temporal components of environmental variability that combine to drive changes in phytoplankton biomass. For 2 decades, we have combined sustained observation and experimentation in South San Francisco Bay (SSFB) with numerical modeling analyses to search for general principles that define phytoplankton population...

Nine similarity indices based on phytoplankton community structure were examined for their sensitivity to assess different levels of eutrophication. Two phytoplankton data sets, one from an open coastal system and one from a semi-enclosed gulf, associated with different nutrient dynamics and circulation patterns were used for evaluating the indices. The results have shown that similarity indice...

The impact of fish and oysters on components of the pelagic microbial food web (MFW) was studied in a 10 d mesocosm experiment using Mediterranean coastal waters. Two mesocosms contained natural water only (‘Controls’), 2 contained natural water with Crassostrea gigas (‘Oyster’), and 2 contained natural water with Atherina spp. (‘Fish’). Abundances and biomasses of microorganisms (viruses, bact...

Specific objectives of this research include the following: 1) Measurements of inherent and apparent optical properties will be conducted in areas frequented by Karenia brevis bloom events off the west Florida coast, and attempt to identify key optical indices for discriminating blooms of K. brevis from other phytoplankton and other sources of optical variability. 2) We will examine the utility...

Alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) has been proposed as a proxy to determine phosphorus (P) stress in marine phytoplankton. Phytoplankton typically meet P requirements by incorporating dissolved inorganic P (DIP), but can use reservoirs of dissolved organic P (DOP) by expressing alkaline phosphatase (AP). Enzyme-labeled fluorescence (ELF) was used to determine group-specific APA within 4 phyto...

Numerous methods have been developed for the quantitative assessment of eutrophication: statistical techniques, simulation models and water quality indicators are the most widely used techniques to assess trophic levels. All these methods share a common goal: to evaluate the environmental impact due to high nutrient concentrations / phytoplankton biomass and classify the waters into oligotrophi...

A large bloom of Prymnesium polylepis occurred in the Baltic Sea during the winter 2007-spring 2008. Based on numerous reports of strong allelopathic effects on phytoplankton exerted by P. polylepis and its toxicity to grazers, we hypothesized that during this period negative correlations will be observed between P. polylepis and (1) main phytoplankton groups contributing to the spring bloom (i...

The relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning is a central issue in ecology. The insurance hypothesis suggests that biodiversity could improve community productivity and reduce the temporal variability of main ecosystem processes. In the present study, we used a plankton community that was investigated from 2011 to 2014 in Lake Nansihu to test this hypothesis and explore the m...

Deliberate fertilization of a patch of water west of Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, with iron sulphate and oxide occurred in summer 2012 and triggered a phytoplankton bloom strongly visible in satellite imagery in late August and detectable through September 2012. Routine sampling by the Continuous Plankton Recorder Survey from commercial ships occurred in the vicinity of the fertilized patch b...