The relationship between phytoplankton distribution and water column characteristics in North West European shelf sea waters.

ABSTRACT: Phytoplankton underpin the marine food web in shelf seas, with some species having properties that are harmful to human health and coastal aquaculture. Pressures such as climate change and anthropogenic nutrient input are hypothesized to influence phytoplankton community composition and distribution. Yet the primary environmental drivers in shelf seas are poorly understood. To begin to address this in North Western European waters, the phytoplankton community composition was assessed in light of measured physical and chemical drivers during the "Ellett Line" cruise of autumn 2001 across the Scottish Continental shelf and into adjacent open Atlantic waters. Spatial variability existed in both phytoplankton and environmental conditions, with clear differences not only between on and off shel

SUBMITTER: Fehling J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3313960 | biostudies-literature | 2012

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature