Substrate limitation of a habitat-forming genus Fucus under different water clarity scenarios in the northern Baltic Sea

Lappalainen, Juho; Virtanen, Elina; Kallio, Kari; Junttila, Sofia; Viitasalo, Markku

doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2018.11.010

Cited by 18 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…S1) and strong wave forcing, which probably enhances the mixing of water in the coastal areas. Moreover, as the open-sea areas of the Gulf of Bothnia are well oxygenated due to a lack of halocline and topographical isolation of GoB from the Baltic Proper (by the sill between these basins) (Leppäranta and Myrberg, 2009), hypoxic water is not advected from the open sea to the coastal areas.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying areas prone to coastal hypoxia – the role of topography

et al. 2019

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Abstract. Hypoxia is an increasing problem in marine ecosystems around the world. While major advances have been made in our understanding of the drivers of hypoxia, challenges remain in describing oxygen dynamics in coastal regions. The complexity of many coastal areas and lack of detailed in situ data have hindered the development of models describing oxygen dynamics at a sufficient spatial resolution for efficient management actions to take place. It is well known that the enclosed nature of seafloors and reduced water mixing facilitates hypoxia formation, but the degree to which topography contributes to hypoxia formation and small-scale variability of coastal hypoxia has not been previously quantified. We developed simple proxies of seafloor heterogeneity and modeled oxygen deficiency in complex coastal areas in the northern Baltic Sea. According to our models, topographical parameters alone explained ∼80 % of hypoxia occurrences. The models also revealed that less than 25 % of the studied seascapes were prone to hypoxia during late summer (August–September). However, large variation existed in the spatial and temporal patterns of hypoxia, as certain areas were prone to occasional severe hypoxia (O2 < 2 mg L−1), while others were more susceptible to recurrent moderate hypoxia (O2 < 4.6 mg L−1). Areas identified as problematic in our study were characterized by low exposure to wave forcing, high topographic shelter from surrounding areas and isolation from the open sea, all contributing to longer water residence times in seabed depressions. Deviations from this topographical background are probably caused by strong currents or high nutrient loading, thus improving or worsening oxygen status, respectively. In some areas, connectivity with adjacent deeper basins may also influence coastal oxygen dynamics. Developed models could boost the performance of biogeochemical models, aid developing nutrient abatement measures and pinpoint areas where management actions are most urgently needed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying areas prone to coastal hypoxia – the role of topography

et al. 2019

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“…As our study suggests, topographically prone areas to deoxygenation represent less than 25 % of seascapes. However, most of the underwater nature values in the Finnish sea areas are concentrated on relatively shallow areas where there exist enough light and suitable substrates (Virtanen et al, 2018;Lappalainen et al, 2019). Shallow areas also suffer from eutrophication and rising temperatures due to changing climate, and are most probably the ones that are particularly susceptible to hypoxia in the future (Breitburg et al, 2018).…”

Section: Discussion (1200)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Identifying areas prone to coastal hypoxia – the role of topography

Virtanen¹,

Norkko²,

Sandman³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Abstract. Hypoxia is an increasing problem in marine ecosystems around the world, and recent projections indicate that anoxic <q>dead zones</q> will be spreading in the forthcoming decades. While major advances have been made in our understanding of the drivers of hypoxia, it fundamentally hinges on patterns of water circulation that can be difficult to resolve in coastal regions. The complexity of many coastal areas and lack of detailed in situ data has hindered the development of models describing oxygen dynamics at a sufficient resolution for efficient management actions to take place. We hypothesized that the enclosed nature of seafloors facilitates hypoxia formation. We developed simple proxies of seafloor heterogeneity and modelled oxygen deficiency in complex coastal areas in the northern Baltic Sea. We discovered that topographically sheltered seafloors and sinkholes with stagnant water are prone to the development of hypoxia. Approximately half of the monitoring sites in Stockholm Archipelago and one third of sites in southern Finland experienced severe hypoxia (O2&#8201;<&#8201;2&#8201;mg&#8201;L&#8722;1). Based only on topography, area potentially affected by hypoxia is smaller than anticipated. Developed models could boost the performance of numerical models, aid nutrient abatement measures, and pinpoint areas where management actions are most urgently needed.

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“…The canopy‐forming macroalgae are key ecosystem engineers within the marine coastal zone, providing habitats for many invertebrates including Littorina species. Although the mass of the canopy and the distribution pattern of intertidal fucoids are affected in a complex manner by a number of both abiotic (e.g., wave action) and biotic (e.g., presence of herbivores) factors (e.g., Jonsson et al., 2006 ; Lappalainen et al., 2019 ), only the distribution pattern of macroalgae, as the most proximate factor, was used as a proxy to determine the intertidal zonation, which was similar in two sites studied. We followed the generalized zonation scheme of Stephenson and Stephenson ( 1949 , 1972 ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%