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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Water Clarity At The River-Estuary Transition Zone: A Comparative Study Of The James, Mattaponi, And Pamunkey Sub-Estuaries, Rachel Henderson
Water Clarity At The River-Estuary Transition Zone: A Comparative Study Of The James, Mattaponi, And Pamunkey Sub-Estuaries, Rachel Henderson
Theses and Dissertations
Water clarity is a key parameter for monitoring water quality and often used to assess habitat suitability for submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Light attenuation, a measure of water clarity, is impacted by colored dissolved organic matter (CDOM), and by suspended particulates which include living and non-living components. We anticipated that the relative importance of these factors in regulating light attenuation would vary among the upper portions of three sub-estuaries differing in morphometry, hydrology, and degree of human influence. The James is characterized by eutrophic conditions and high algal abundance, whereas the Mattaponi and Pamunkey exhibit lower phytoplankton production. The Mattaponi …
A Comparison Of Computational Methods For Estimating Estuarine Production And Respiration From Diel Open Water Dissolved Oxygen Measurements, Spencer Tassone
A Comparison Of Computational Methods For Estimating Estuarine Production And Respiration From Diel Open Water Dissolved Oxygen Measurements, Spencer Tassone
Theses and Dissertations
Diel dissolved oxygen (DO) data were used to characterize seasonal, inter-annual, and longitudinal variation in production and respiration for the James River Estuary. Two computational methods (Bayesian and bookkeeping) were applied to these data to determine whether inferences regarding DO metabolism are sensitive to methodology. Net metabolism was sensitive to methodology as Bayesian results indicated net heterotrophy (production < respiration) while bookkeeping results indicated net autotrophy (production > respiration). Differences in net metabolism among the methods was due to low seasonal variation in respiration using the Bayesian method, whereas bookkeeping results showed a strong correlation between production and respiration. Bayesian results suggest a dependence on allochthonous organic matter (OM) whereas …