Multiscalarity of the Nutrient–Chlorophyll Relationship in Coastal Phytoplankton

Li, William K. W.; Lewis, Marlon R.; Harrison, W. G.

doi:10.1007/s12237-008-9119-7

Cited by 33 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Thus, changes in chlorophyll a concentration in short (diel and intra-annual) and long (decadal) scales could be explained taking into account the corresponding variability in nitrate concentration. However, Li et al (2010) did not find any relationship between interannual variability of nitrate and chlorophyll a. These findings suggest that the mechanisms underlying the nutrient-driven phytoplankton dynamics could vary depending on the time scale considered.…”

Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

“…Cloern (2001) suggested that the optical properties of the water column and/or horizontal transport processes (that depend on several factors like wind, bathymetry, basin geography and river flow) could also contribute to modulate the response to nutrient enrichment. Li et al (2010) reported that the response of chlorophyll a to changing nutrients varied according to the time scale considered. Thus, changes in chlorophyll a concentration in short (diel and intra-annual) and long (decadal) scales could be explained taking into account the corresponding variability in nitrate concentration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Decadal weakening of the wind-induced upwelling reduces the impact of nutrient pollution in the Bay of Málaga (western Mediterranean Sea)

et al. 2011

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The hypothesis that nitrate versus phosphate regulates the coastal primary production has been assessed at different time scales in the northwest Alboran Sea. Time series of temperature, salinity, nutrients and chlorophyll a obtained at three stations located off Málaga city (the greatest coastal urban core along the Alboran Sea shoreline) from 1992 to 2006 have been analysed. At the decadal scale, temperature increased linearly while salinity decreased. These changes were related to a shift in the wind regime suggesting that coastal upwelling became steadily weaker. In contrast to phosphate, nitrate was positively correlated with salinity at the seasonal scale and decreased linearly from 1992 to 2006. Seasonal and decadal changes in chlorophyll a were correlated with nitrate (and uncorrelated with phosphate). However, non-regular variability in chlorophyll a was correlated with phosphate. Consequently, the results demonstrate that nitrate controls the phytoplankton biomass at the inter-annual scale while both nitrate and phosphate do so at a shorter time scale. The Bay of Málaga receives elevated entries of domestic waste waters that release high loads of phosphate compared to nitrate. Our analysis indicates that the expected impact of this pollution on chlorophyll a at the inter-annual scale is reduced in comparison with the effects of atmospheric forcing.

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Section: Introductioncontrasting

confidence: 56%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decadal weakening of the wind-induced upwelling reduces the impact of nutrient pollution in the Bay of Málaga (western Mediterranean Sea)

et al. 2011

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“…Nutrient depletion and increasing zooplankton grazing typically cause breakdown of spring blooms and maintain low phytoplankton biomass during summer; and in nutrient-rich systems grazing-resistant algal species can give rise to a second bloom later in the year (Sommer et al 1986). In temperate lakes (Reynolds 2006), oceans (Longhurst 1995) and coastal basins (Longhurst 1995;Li et al 2010), a secondary bloom in autumn is often fuelled by transport of nutrientrich deep waters to the surface as stratification is eroded by surface cooling and convective mixing. Further, in turbid estuaries where phytoplankton is controlled by light availability, winter blooms can be triggered by increasing solar penetration caused by a reduction of suspended sediments owing to low river inflow or reduced wind stress (Guinder et al 2009).…”

Section: Annual Cycles Of Phytoplankton Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

The annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass

Winder

Cloern

2010

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

257

170

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Terrestrial plants are powerful climate sentinels because their annual cycles of growth, reproduction and senescence are finely tuned to the annual climate cycle having a period of one year. Consistency in the seasonal phasing of terrestrial plant activity provides a relatively low-noise background from which phenological shifts can be detected and attributed to climate change. Here, we ask whether phytoplankton biomass also fluctuates over a consistent annual cycle in lake, estuarine -coastal and ocean ecosystems and whether there is a characteristic phenology of phytoplankton as a consistent phase and amplitude of variability. We compiled 125 time series of phytoplankton biomass (chlorophyll a concentration) from temperate and subtropical zones and used wavelet analysis to extract their dominant periods of variability and the recurrence strength at those periods. Fewer than half (48%) of the series had a dominant 12-month period of variability, commonly expressed as the canonical spring-bloom pattern. About 20 per cent had a dominant six-month period of variability, commonly expressed as the spring and autumn or winter and summer blooms of temperate lakes and oceans. These annual patterns varied in recurrence strength across sites, and did not persist over the full series duration at some sites. About a third of the series had no component of variability at either the six-or 12-month period, reflecting a series of irregular pulses of biomass. These findings show that there is high variability of annual phytoplankton cycles across ecosystems, and that climate-driven annual cycles can be obscured by other drivers of population variability, including human disturbance, aperiodic weather events and strong trophic coupling between phytoplankton and their consumers. Regulation of phytoplankton biomass by multiple processes operating at multiple time scales adds complexity to the challenge of detecting climate-driven trends in aquatic ecosystems where the noise to signal ratio is high.

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“…As well as true deviations from a long-term average seasonal pattern, the residual component also includes variability associated with sampling errors that can be large when single measurements are used as estimators of monthly mean Chl-a concentration. Phytoplankton communities and biomass change on many scales at the same time (Li et al 2009). Large changes can occur at timescales shorter than a month (e.g., Abreu et al 2009), and monthly scale changes in Chl-a can arise from processes operating at shorter timescales (Lucas and Cloern 2002).…”

Section: Event-scale Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Patterns and Scales of Phytoplankton Variability in Estuarine–Coastal Ecosystems

Cloern

Jassby

2009

Estuaries and Coasts

298

174

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Phytoplankton variability is a primary driver of chemical and biological dynamics in the coastal zone because it directly affects water quality, biogeochemical cycling of reactive elements, and food supply to consumer organisms. Much has been learned about patterns of phytoplankton variability within individual ecosystems, but patterns have not been compared across the diversity of ecosystem types where marine waters are influenced by connectivity to land. We extracted patterns from chlorophyll-a series measured at 84 estuarine-coastal sites, using a model that decomposes time series into an annual effect, mean seasonal pattern, and residual "events." Comparisons across sites revealed a large range of variability patterns, with some dominated by a recurrent seasonal pattern, others dominated by annual (i.e., year-to-year) variability as trends or regime shifts and others dominated by the residual component, which includes exceptional bloom events such as red tides. Why is the partitioning of phytoplankton variability at these three scales so diverse? We propose a hypothesis to guide next steps of comparative analysis: large year-to-year variability is a response to disturbance from human activities or shifts in the climate system; strong seasonal patterns develop where the governing processes are linked to the annual climate cycle; and large event-scale variability occurs at sites highly enriched with nutrients. Patterns of phytoplankton variability are therefore shaped by the site-specific relative importance of disturbance, annual climatology, and nutrient enrichment.

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Multiscalarity of the Nutrient–Chlorophyll Relationship in Coastal Phytoplankton

Cited by 33 publications

References 35 publications

Decadal weakening of the wind-induced upwelling reduces the impact of nutrient pollution in the Bay of Málaga (western Mediterranean Sea)

Decadal weakening of the wind-induced upwelling reduces the impact of nutrient pollution in the Bay of Málaga (western Mediterranean Sea)

The annual cycles of phytoplankton biomass

Patterns and Scales of Phytoplankton Variability in Estuarine–Coastal Ecosystems

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