Phytoplankton assemblage characteristics in recurrently fluctuating environments.

ABSTRACT: Annual variations in biogeochemical and physical processes can lead to nutrient variability and seasonal patterns in phytoplankton productivity and assemblage structure. In many coastal systems river inflow and water exchange with the ocean varies seasonally, and alternating periods can arise where the nutrient most limiting to phytoplankton growth switches. Transitions between these alternating periods can be sudden or gradual and this depends on human activities, such as reservoir construction and interbasin water transfers. How such activities might influence phytoplankton assemblages is largely unknown. Here, we employed a multispecies, multi-nutrient model to explore how nutrient loading switching mode might affect characteristics of phytoplankton assemblages. The model is based on th

SUBMITTER: Roelke DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4370464 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature