Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Phytoplankton And Nutrient Dynamics In A Tidally Dominated Eutrophic Estuary: Daily Variability And Controls On Bloom Formation, Ryan E. Morse, Margaret R. Mulholland, Todd A. Egerton, Harold G. Marshall

OES Faculty Publications

To better understand nutrient dynamics and factors that promote the initiation of algal blooms, the Lafayette River, a tidal subestuary of Chesapeake Bay that experiences seasonal algal blooms, was sampled daily for a period of 54 d in the fall of 2005. Three phytoplankton blooms (chl a concentrations exceeding twice the average of monthly measurements from 2000 to 2009) occurred during this period: a mixed bloom of Akashiwo sanguinea and Gymnodinium sp., a monospecific Skeletonema costatum bloom, and a monospecific Gymnodinium sp. bloom. Over the sampling period, nutrient concentrations increased following precipitation events and were elevated between bloom periods but …