Distribution and Abundance of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Ichthyoplankton, and Micronekton in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Biggs, Douglas C.; Ressler, Patrick H.

doi:10.18785/goms.1901.02

Cited by 51 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Furthermore, our findings that the relative abundance of cyanobacteria was significantly increased in marine stations is in agreement with previous studies that describe the phytoplankton community of LC surface waters being dominated by small-sized phyto plankton and cyanobacteria, such as Trichodes mium (Biggs & Ressler 2001). In addition, depthintegrated Trichodesmium abundance in the western GOM was measured by Holl et al (2007) .…”

supporting

confidence: 93%

“…This region of the GOM functions as a natural experimental system to assess the utilization of differential N sources because N 2 fixation and freshwater inputs of N have been shown to enhance primary and secondary production by alleviating N limitation (Walsh et al 1989, Biggs & Ressler 2001, Dagg & Breed 2003, Holl et al 2007, Quigg et al 2011. During summer months, the northern GOM is influenced by inshore (hereafter, neritic) waters from the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers (Walker et al 2005, Biggs et al 2008 in addition to the shedding of warm-core eddies by the Loop Current (LC) in offshore (hereafter, oceanic) regions (Biggs & Ressler 2001). During the course of our study, the eastern sections of our sampling transects were dominated by the western edge of the LC, while the western sections transected a warm-core eddy (see Fig.…”

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Freshwater inputs have also been shown to impact phytoplankton community composition and primary production (Howarth & Marino 2006, Quigg et al 2011. In addition, circulation patterns have been shown to entrain freshwater masses and carry them into the offshore marine environment (Biggs & Ressler 2001, Biggs et al 2008. Assessing the importance of non-traditional processes, such as N 2 fixation and riverine inputs, using stable isotope techniques may help to explain the success of higher trophic levels in open ocean environments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isotope baseline shifts in pelagic food webs of the Gulf of Mexico

Dorado¹,

Rooker²,

Wissel³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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supporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Study Areamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Isotope baseline shifts in pelagic food webs of the Gulf of Mexico

Dorado¹,

Rooker²,

Wissel³

et al. 2012

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…(< 150 mgC m −2 d −1 ) and low surface chlorophyll concentration (hereafter [CHL] surf ) with values ranging from 0.06 to 0.32 mg m −3 , and being 2-3 times higher in subsurface waters (Biggs and Ressler, 2001;El-Sayed, 1972;KoblenzMishke et al, 1970).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Superimposed on the seasonal variability, several sporadic processes, such as mesoscale and submesoscale activity (Belabbassi et al, 2005;Biggs and Ressler, 2001;Linacre et al, 2015;Toner et al, 2003) or river run-off (Lohrenz et al, 1997;Nababan et al, 2011), may alter the [CHL] distribution in the deep GOM. These structures are hardly detectable from traditional in situ measurements (ship-based data rarely achieve the required spatio-temporal resolution), and their impact on the phytoplankton distribution and dynamics in the GOM remains to be established.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Temporal variability of chlorophyll distribution in the Gulf of Mexico: bio-optical data from profiling floats

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Chlorophyll concentration is a key oceanic biogeochemical variable. In the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), its distribution, which is mainly obtained from satellite surface observations and scarce in situ experiments, is still poorly understood. In 2011-2012, eight profiling floats equipped with biogeochemical sensors were deployed for the first time in the GOM and generated an unprecedented dataset that significantly increased the number of chlorophyll vertical distribution measurements in the region. The analysis of these data, once calibrated, permits us to reconsider the spatial and temporal variability of the chlorophyll concentration in the water column. At a seasonal scale, results confirm the surface signal seen by satellites, presenting maximum concentrations in winter and low values in summer. It is shown that the deepening of the mixed layer is the primary factor triggering the chlorophyll surface increase in winter. In the GOM, a possible interpretation is that this surface increase corresponds to a biomass increase. However, the present dataset suggests that the basin-scale climatological surface increase in chlorophyll content results from a vertical redistribution of subsurface chlorophyll and/or photoacclimation processes, rather than a net increase of biomass. One plausible explanation for this is the decoupling between the mixed-layer depth and the deep nutrient reservoir since mixed-layer depth only reaches the nitracline in sporadic events in the observations. Float measurements also provide evidence that the depth and the magnitude of the deep chlorophyll maximum is strongly controlled by the mesoscale variability, with higher chlorophyll biomass generally observed in cyclones rather than anticyclones.

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Partitioning of the Open Waters of the Gulf of Mexico Based on the Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Chlorophyll Concentration

et al. 2018

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The seasonal and interannual variability of chlorophyll in the Gulf of Mexico open waters is studied using a three‐dimensional coupled physical‐biogeochemical model. A 5 years hindcast driven by realistic open‐boundary conditions, atmospheric forcings, and freshwater discharges from rivers is performed. The use of recent in situ observations allowed an in‐depth evaluation of the model nutrient and chlorophyll seasonal distributions, including the chlorophyll vertical structure. We find that different chlorophyll patterns of temporal variability coexist in the deep basin which thereby cannot be considered as a homogeneous region with respect to chlorophyll dynamics. A partitioning of the Gulf of Mexico open waters based on the winter chlorophyll concentration increase is then proposed. This partition is basically explained by the amount of nutrients injected into the euphotic layer which is highly constrained by the dynamic of the winter mixed layer. The seasonal and interannual variability appears to be affected by the variability of atmospheric fluxes and mesoscale dynamics (Loop Current eddies in particular). Finally, estimates of primary production in the deep basin are provided.

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Distribution and Abundance of Phytoplankton, Zooplankton, Ichthyoplankton, and Micronekton in the Deepwater Gulf of Mexico

Cited by 51 publications

References 33 publications

Isotope baseline shifts in pelagic food webs of the Gulf of Mexico

Isotope baseline shifts in pelagic food webs of the Gulf of Mexico

Temporal variability of chlorophyll distribution in the Gulf of Mexico: bio-optical data from profiling floats

Partitioning of the Open Waters of the Gulf of Mexico Based on the Seasonal and Interannual Variability of Chlorophyll Concentration

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