Annual phytoplankton production in a coastal lagoon of the southern California Current System

Montes-Hugo, Martin; Alvarez-Borrego, S.; Gaxiola‐Castro, Gilberto

doi:10.3354/meps277051

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Frequency distribution of net primary production estimates for our study (75 estuaries) and that summarized in Montes-Hugol et al (15 estuaries) , Smith and Hollibaugh (22 estuaries) , Boynton et al (45 estuaries) , and Underwood and Kromkamp (30 estuaries) .…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 67%

“…Thus, the overall distribution of the model production estimate is a mixture distribution. For comparison, we compiled summaries of phytoplankton primary production for 112 estuaries and coastal systems − and compared their distributions to our model. For cases where production estimates were reported as annual average daily rates, we assumed that 70% of the annual production occurs during the 7 month growing season.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Exploring Estuarine Nutrient Susceptibility

Scavia

Liu

2009

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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The susceptibility of estuaries to nutrient loading is an important issue that cuts across a range of management needs. We used a theory-driven but data-tested simple model to assist classifying estuaries according to their susceptibility to nutrients. This simple nutrient-driven phytoplankton model is based on fundamental principles of mass balance and empirical response functions for a wide variety of estuaries in the United States. Phytoplankton production was assumed to be stoichiometrically proportional to nitrogen load and an introduced "efficiency factor" intended to capture the myriad processes involved in converting nitrogen load to algal production. A Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithm of Bayesian inference was then employed for parameter estimation. The model performed remarkably well for chlorophyll estimates, and the predicted estimates of primary production, grazing, and sinking losses are consistent with measurements reported in the literature from a wide array of systems. Analysis of the efficiency factor suggests that estuaries with the ratio of river inflow to estuarine volume (Q/V) greater than 2.0 per year are less susceptible to nutrient loads, and those with Q/V between 0.3 and 2.0 per year are moderately susceptible. This simple model analysis provides a first-order screening tool for estuarine susceptibility classification.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 67%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Estuarine Nutrient Susceptibility

Scavia

Liu

2009

Environ. Sci. Technol.

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“…However, a surprisingly varied suite of protocols for handling and incubating water samples and integrating rates over depth and time have been used to measure phytoplankton primary production in estuaries. Some protocols included screening of water samples to remove mesozooplankton grazers (Thayer, 1971) while others did not; some included measures of 14 C in dissolved organic carbon fixed by phytoplankton and excreted during the incubation period (Sellner, 1976) but most did not; some included correction for isotopic discrimination of the heavy isotope 14 C (Becacos-Kontos, 1977); some (Gallegos, 2014) included corrections to account for changing spectral quality of light with depth; the euphotic depth was assumed to be either 0.1 % or 1 % (Gazeau et al, 2005) of surface irradiance, and it was determined from measured light attenuation coefficients (e.g., Morán, 2007), or a transformation of Secchi depth (e.g., Medina-Gómez and Herrera-Silveira, 2006), or estimated from other quantities such as wind and tidal currents (e.g., Montes-Hugo et al, 2004). The frequencies of measurements yielding APPP ranged from twice weekly (Glé et al, 2008) to monthly (most studies), the number of incubation depths or irradiance exposures ranged from 1 (Flores-Verdugo et al, 1988) to 20 (Bouman et al, 2010, and incubation durations ranged from 20 min (Thompson, 1998) to 72 h (Apollonio, 1980).…”

Section: Methods As a Source Of Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Phytoplankton primary production in the world's estuarine-coastal ecosystems

2014

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Abstract. Estuaries are biogeochemical hot spots because they receive large inputs of nutrients and organic carbon from land and oceans to support high rates of metabolism and primary production. We synthesize published rates of annual phytoplankton primary production (APPP) in marine ecosystems influenced by connectivity to land – estuaries, bays, lagoons, fjords and inland seas. Review of the scientific literature produced a compilation of 1148 values of APPP derived from monthly incubation assays to measure carbon assimilation or oxygen production. The median value of median APPP measurements in 131 ecosystems is 185 and the mean is 252 g C m−2 yr−1, but the range is large: from −105 (net pelagic production in the Scheldt Estuary) to 1890 g C m−2 yr−1 (net phytoplankton production in Tamagawa Estuary). APPP varies up to 10-fold within ecosystems and 5-fold from year to year (but we only found eight APPP series longer than a decade so our knowledge of decadal-scale variability is limited). We use studies of individual places to build a conceptual model that integrates the mechanisms generating this large variability: nutrient supply, light limitation by turbidity, grazing by consumers, and physical processes (river inflow, ocean exchange, and inputs of heat, light and wind energy). We consider method as another source of variability because the compilation includes values derived from widely differing protocols. A simulation model shows that different methods reported in the literature can yield up to 3-fold variability depending on incubation protocols and methods for integrating measured rates over time and depth. Although attempts have been made to upscale measures of estuarine-coastal APPP, the empirical record is inadequate for yielding reliable global estimates. The record is deficient in three ways. First, it is highly biased by the large number of measurements made in northern Europe (particularly the Baltic region) and North America. Of the 1148 reported values of APPP, 958 come from sites between 30 and 60° N; we found only 36 for sites south of 20° N. Second, of the 131 ecosystems where APPP has been reported, 37% are based on measurements at only one location during 1 year. The accuracy of these values is unknown but probably low, given the large interannual and spatial variability within ecosystems. Finally, global assessments are confounded by measurements that are not intercomparable because they were made with different methods. Phytoplankton primary production along the continental margins is tightly linked to variability of water quality, biogeochemical processes including ocean–atmosphere CO2 exchange, and production at higher trophic levels including species we harvest as food. The empirical record has deficiencies that preclude reliable global assessment of this key Earth system process. We face two grand challenges to resolve these deficiencies: (1) organize and fund an international effort to use a common method and measure APPP regularly across a network of coastal sites that are globally representative and sustained over time, and (2) integrate data into a unifying model to explain the wide range of variability across ecosystems and to project responses of APPP to regional manifestations of global change as it continues to unfold.

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“…However, a surprisingly varied suite of protocols for handling and incubating water samples and integrating rates over depth and time have been used to measure phytoplankton primary production in estuaries. Some protocols included screening of water samples to remove mesozooplankton grazers (Thayer, 1971) while others did not; some included measures of 14 C in dissolved organic carbon fixed by phytoplankton and excreted during the incubation period (Sellner, 1976) but most did not; some included correction for isotopic discrimination of the heavy isotope 14 C (Becacos- Kontos, 1977); some (Gallegos, 2014) included corrections to account for changing spectral quality of light with depth; the euphotic depth was assumed to be either 0.1 % or 1 % (Gazeau et al, 2005) of surface irradiance, and it was determined from measured light attenuation coefficients (e.g., Morán, 2007), or a transformation of Secchi depth (e.g., Medina-Gómez and Herrera-Silveira, 2006), or estimated from other quantities such as wind and tidal currents (e.g., Montes-Hugo et al, 2004). The frequencies of measurements yielding APPP ranged from twice weekly (Glé et al, 2008) to monthly (most studies), the number of incubation depths or irradiance exposures ranged from 1 (Flores-Verdugo et al, 1988) to 20 (Bouman et al, 2010), and incubation durations ranged from 20 min (Thompson, 1998) to 72 h (Apollonio, 1980).…”

Section: Methods As a Source Of Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Review: phytoplankton primary production in the world's estuarine-coastal ecosystems

Cloern¹,

Foster²,

Kleckner³

2013

Preprint

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Abstract. Estuaries are biogeochemical hot spots because they receive large inputs of nutrients and organic carbon from land and oceans to support high rates of metabolism and primary production. We synthesize published rates of annual phytoplankton primary production (APPP) in marine ecosystems influenced by connectivity to land – estuaries, bays, lagoons, fjords and inland seas. Review of the scientific literature produced a compilation of 1148 values of APPP derived from monthly incubation assays to measure carbon assimilation or oxygen production. The median value of median APPP measurements in 131 ecosystems is 185 and the mean is 252 g C m−2 yr−1, but the range is large: from −105 (net pelagic production in the Scheldt Estuary) to 1890 g C m−2 yr−1 (net phytoplankton production in Tamagawa Estuary). APPP varies up to 10-fold within ecosystems and 5-fold from year-to-year (but we only found 8 APPP series longer than a decade so our knowledge of decadal-scale variability is limited). We use studies of individual places to build a conceptual model that integrates the mechanisms generating this large variability: nutrient supply, light limitation by turbidity, grazing by consumers, and physical processes (river inflow, ocean exchange, and inputs of heat, light and wind energy). We consider method as another source of variability because the compilation includes values derived from widely differing protocols. A simulation model shows that different methods can yield up to 3-fold variability depending on incubation protocols and methods for integrating measured rates over time and depth. Although attempts have been made to upscale measures of estuarine-coastal APPP, the empirical record is inadequate for yielding reliable global estimates. The record is deficient in three ways. First, it is highly biased by the large number of measurements made in northern Europe (particularly the Baltic region) and North America. Of the 1148 reported values of APPP, 958 come from sites between 30° N and 60° N; we found only 36 for sites south of 20° N. Second, of the 131 ecosystems where APPP has been reported, 37% are based on measurements at only one location during one year. The accuracy of these values is unknown but probably low, given the large inter-annual and spatial variability within ecosystems. Finally, global assessments are confounded by measurements that are not intercomparable because they were made with a broad range of methods. Phytoplankton primary production along the continental margins is tightly linked to variability of water quality, biogeochemical processes including ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange, and production at higher trophic levels including species we harvest as food. The empirical record has deficiencies that preclude reliable global assessment of this key Earth-system process. We face two grand challenges to resolve these deficiencies: (1) organize and fund an international effort to use a common method and measure APPP regularly across a network of coastal sites that are globally representative and sustained over time, and (2) integrate data into a unifying model to explain the wide range of variability across ecosystems and to project responses of APPP to regional manifestations of global change as it continues to unfold.

show abstract

Annual phytoplankton production in a coastal lagoon of the southern California Current System

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Exploring Estuarine Nutrient Susceptibility

Exploring Estuarine Nutrient Susceptibility

Phytoplankton primary production in the world's estuarine-coastal ecosystems

Review: phytoplankton primary production in the world's estuarine-coastal ecosystems

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