Factors controlling the timing of the spring bloom in the Strait of Georgia estuary, British Columbia, Canada

Yin, Kedong; Harrison, P J; Goldblatt, Robert H.; John, Michael A. St.; Beamish, Richard

doi:10.1139/f97-106

Cited by 32 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Most previous studies often regarded the development of spring phytoplankton spring as a period cycle of seasonal events and emphasized the importance of large-scale climatic fluctuation on the development of spring bloom (Semetacek, 1990;Yin et al, 1997;Straile, 2000;Iriarte and Purdie, 2004;Miller and Harding, 2007). Some studies have confirmed the expected earlier onset of the spring bloom under warming conditions (Rees et al, 1999;Peeters et al, 2007a), which agree with the frequently reported earlier onset of spring events reported from terrestrial ecosystems (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Asynchrony of spring phytoplankton response to temperature driver within a spatial heterogeneity bay of Three-Gorges Reservoir, China

Cai

et al. 2011

Limnologica

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a b s t r a c tThe increased air temperature is expected to have important driver on spring phytoplankton dynamics. To test whether spatial heterogeneity modifies the synchronous responses of phytoplankton to regional temperature driver, we evaluate temporal coherences for physical factors (temperature, water stability and non-algal light extinction), nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus and silicon), and biomass and density of phytoplankton by Pearson correlation analysis and synchrony for phytoplankton community dynamics by Mantel test and nonmetric multi-dimensional scaling (NMS), during spring bloom (February 23-April 28, 2005) within Xiangxi Bay, a high spatial gradient bay of Three-Gorges Reservoir (China). The high level of temporal coherences for surface water temperature (r = 0.946, p < 0.01) and relative water column stability (r = 0.750, p < 0.01) were found between pair sites (A and B), in which the increase trends occurred with increase in regional air temperature during the study period. However, the low synchrony for phytoplankton dynamics were indeed observed between Site A and B, especially for the density of common dominant taxa (Cyclotella spp.: r = 0.155, p = 0.388) and community structure (Mantel test: r = 0.351). Moreover, the local habitat characteristics such as nutrient (nitrogen and phosphorus) and non-algal light extinction showed low levels of temporal coherence. It indicated that local community of phytoplankton varies rather independently within the single lentic bay with high spatial heterogeneity and that dispersal of algal organisms among locations cannot overwhelm out these local dynamics. Contrary to many studies, the present results argued that, in a small geographic area (i.e., a single reservoir bay of approximately 24 km length), spatial gradients also may influence spring phytoplankton response to regional temperature driver.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Asynchrony of spring phytoplankton response to temperature driver within a spatial heterogeneity bay of Three-Gorges Reservoir, China

Cai

et al. 2011

Limnologica

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“…The bloom continued well past the April spring bloom that occurs in the stratified waters of the Strait of Georgia (cf. Yin et al 1997). Although nutrient concentrations were not measured in this study, the tidal fluctuations in temperature and salinity profiles show that deep water is mixed into the San Juan Channel and therefore is likely to maintain relatively high nitrate concentrations throughout the summer.…”

Section: A)mentioning

confidence: 66%

Tidal changes in copepod abundance and maintenance of a summer Coscinodiscus bloom in the southern San Juan Channel, San Juan Islands, USA

Zamon¹

2002

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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“…High NO3 in late March (22 March) 1995 was consistent with low chl a for the same day. This might be due to a continuation of the winter conditions since the spring bloom had not consumed NO3 (Yin et al 1997a) or might be due to wind mixing, as was observed in the Strait of Georgia (Yin et al 1997b).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 94%

“…There were temporal fluctuations in chl a over the 2 yr. The spring bloom is commonly observed during late March and early April in the Strait of Georgia (Parsons et al 1969, Yin et al 1996, 1997a. However, chl a in March (22 March) 1995 was low and increased in May (4 May) (Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Influences of flood and ebb tides on nutrient fluxes and chlorophyll on an intertidal flat

Yin¹,

Harrison²

2000

Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser.

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Intertidal estuarine sediment processes produce organics and nutrients and are influenced by river outflow and tidal cycles. Hence the sediments act as a source or sink of nutrients into or out of the water column. In most studies, a chamber incubation approach is used to study fluxes of nutrients into and out of the sediment; the chamber isolates the sediments from the hydrodynamics occurring in the overlying water column. Therefore, field data over an entire intertidal flat are lacking. Here, we present a unique case in which an intertidal flat is semi-enclosed, usually inundated for 12 to 14 h during a tidal cycle, and hence can be treated like an incubation chamber during this period of submergence. The intertidal flat on Sturgeon Bank, British Columbia, was directly exposed to domestic sewage effluents from the Iona Sewage Treatment Plant between 1967 and 1989. Since 1989, the sewage effluent has been &verted and discharged into deep water in the Strait of Georgia. The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of tidal cycles on the flux of nutrients from the sediment into the water column. We expanded the spatial scale of our study site by treating the semienclosed tidal flat as a large natural incubation chamber during the 12 to 14 h period of submergence. Water samples at 10 stations covenng Sturgeon Bank were taken during late flood tides and middle ebb tides, 12 to 13 h later. Salinity, temperature, chl a, nutrients (NH,, NO3 and PO,), suspended load, and particulate carbon (PC) and nitrogen (PN) at the surface were measured or analyzed. Based on nearly 2 yr observation between 1994 and 1995, we found that water coming onto Sturgeon Bank was a mixture of different origins since salinity was not correlated with temperature or any other variables except for particulate C/N. Chl a was higher during flood tides than during ebb tides, indicating a loss of chl a from the water column, likely due to feeding by benthic organisms. Ammonium concentrations were almost always higher during ebb tides than flood tides, indicating a release of NH, from the sediment. Therefore, the intertidal flat of Sturgeon Bank appears to be a sink for chl a and a source of NH, to the Strait of Georgia. Particulate C/N ratios were always higher than 7, indicating a predominantly terrestrial origin of particulate organics. Particulate C/N ratios were also found to be higher during ebb tides than flood tides, indicating preferential utilization of PN when organic matter was deposited onto the sedunent. Our study has shown that it is possible to treat an intertidal flat as an incubation chamber and follow fluxes of nutrients and particulates into and out of the water column during flood and ebb tides. With this approach, we concluded from NH4 concentrations and fluxes that the intertidal flat at Sturgeon Bank showed no signs of eutrophication due to previous sewage effluent contamination.

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Factors controlling the timing of the spring bloom in the Strait of Georgia estuary, British Columbia, Canada

Cited by 32 publications

References 25 publications

Asynchrony of spring phytoplankton response to temperature driver within a spatial heterogeneity bay of Three-Gorges Reservoir, China

Asynchrony of spring phytoplankton response to temperature driver within a spatial heterogeneity bay of Three-Gorges Reservoir, China

Tidal changes in copepod abundance and maintenance of a summer Coscinodiscus bloom in the southern San Juan Channel, San Juan Islands, USA

Influences of flood and ebb tides on nutrient fluxes and chlorophyll on an intertidal flat

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