Abstract
To study temporal changes in phyto- and zooplankton in the Gulf of Riga monitoring data covering the period of 1972–1995 were analyzed. Changes in external nutrient supply have turned P limitation, during the 1980s, into the present deficiency of Si for the spring bloom. Contrary to depletion of the N and Si pools, the internal sources and sinks were responsible for input of P into the pelagic ecosystem in the 1990s. Restructuring of the nutrient pool reshaped the pelagic planktonic communities. Changes of the species composition and food-web relationships occurred. Till the 1990s, an increase of diatoms in the summer phytoplankton and an increase of herbivores in zooplankton took place. Later, the role of dinoflagellates, greens, blue-greens and heterotrophic algae increased and more intense competition between herbivorous species of zooplankton developed. The nutrient accumulations in winter and the riverine input defined the phytoplankton spring growth, whereas the decline phase was determined by sedimentation and grazing of the bloom by crustacean zooplankton. Heterotrophic dinoflagellates formed only a negligible share of the vernal phytoplankton. The nutrient requirements of the summer algae were covered by vertical transport and regeneration, where zooplankton-mediated fluxes could be important. There were environmental indications on long-term modification of nutrient summer cycling. The vigorous blue-green algae blooms may have contributed to the sharp increase of the P surface values in summer of the 1990s.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berman, T., 1997. Dissolved organic nitrogen utilization by an Aphanizomenon bloom in Lake Kinneret. J. Plankton Res. 19(5): 577–586.
Bogorov, V., 1947. Instruction for marine hydrobiological (plankton and benthos) investigations. M.-L. 18: 5–19 (in Russian).
Bralevska, J. M. & Z. Vitek, 1995. Heterotrophic dinoflagellates in the ecosystem of the Gulf of Gdansk. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 117: 241–248.
Burlakova, Z. P., T. M. Kondratjeva & K. M. Hailov, 1971. Extraction and assimilation of dissolved organic metabolites by algae. In: Ecological physiology of marine planktonic algae. Naukova dumka, Kiev: 93–142 (in Russian).
Elser, J. J., F. S. Lubnow, E. R. Marzoff, M. T. Brett, G. Dion, & C. R. Goldman, 1995. Factors associated with interannual and intraannual variation in nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth in Castle Lake, California. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 52: 93–104.
Granéli, E., K. Wallsström, U. Larsson, W. Granéll & R. Elmgren, 1990. Nutrient limitation of primary production in the Baltic Sea Area. Ambio 19(3): 142–149.
Hecky, R. E. & P. Kilham, 1988. Nutrient limitation of phytoplankton in freshwater and marine environments: A review of recent evidence on the effects of enrichment. Limnol. Oceanogr. 33(4): 796–822.
HELCOM, 1988. Guidelines for the Baltic Monitoring Programme for the Third Stage; Part B. Physical and Chemical Determinands in the Sea Water. Balt. Sea Environ. Proc. No. 27B.
HELCOM, 1996. Third Periodic Assessment of the State of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea, 1989–1993; Background Document. Balt. Sea Environ. Proc. No. 64 B.
Hooper, F., 1977. The origin and fate of organic phosphorus compounds in water systems. In Environmental phosphorus handbook. Moscow: MIR: 204–231 (in Russian).
Kostrichkina, E., A. Yurkovskis, R. Line & V. Berzinsh, 1990. The long-term changes of zooplankton due to eutrophication in the Gulf of Riga. Gidrobiologicheskij zhurnal 26(5): 10–16 (in Russian).
Leppänen J.-M., Å. Niemi & I. Rinne, 1988. Nitrogen fixation of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) and the nitrogen cycle of the Baltic Sea. Symbiosis 6: 181–194.
Mazumder, A, 1994. Phosphorus-chlorophyll relationships under contrasting zooplankton community structure: Potential mechanisms. Can. J. Fish. aquatic. Sci. 51: 401–406.
Niemi, Å, 1982. Dynamics of phytoplankton in the brackish-water inlet Pojoviken, southern coast of Finland. Hydrobiologia 86: 33–39.
Olesen, M, 1993. The fate of an early diatom spring bloom in the Kattegat. Ophelia 37(1): 51–66.
Sokal, R. R. & F. J. Rohlf, 1997. Biometry. 3rd edn. W. H. Freeman & Co. New York, 887 pp.
Strickland, J. D. H. & I. R. Parsons, 1968. A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Canada, 167 pp.
Tarapchak, S. J. & C. Nalewajko, 1986a. Introduction: Phosphorusplankton dynamics symposium. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 43: 293- 299.
Tarapchak, S. J. & C. Nalewajko, 1986b. Synopsis: Phosphorusplankton dynamics symposium. Can. J. Fish. aquat. Sci. 43: 416- 419.
Tilman, D., S. Kilham & P. Kilham, 1982. Phytoplankton community ecology: The role of limiting nutrients. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 13: 349–372.
Tiselius, P. & M. Kuylenstierna, 1996. Growth and decline of a diatom spring bloom: phytoplankton species composition, formation of a marine snow and the role of heterotrophic dino-flagellates. J. Plankton Res. 18(2): 133–155
UNESCO, 1966. Determination of photosynthetic pigments in seawater. Monographs on Oceanographic Methodology.
Yurkovskis, A. & E. Kostrichkina. A long-term ecosystem response to man-made impact in the Gulf of Riga. ICES Cooper. Res. Rpt. Proceed. of the Baltic Marine Science Conf., Oct. 1996 (in press).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Yurkovskis, A., Kostrichkina, E. & Ikauniece, A. Seasonal succession and growth in the plankton communities of the Gulf of Riga in relation to long-term nutrient dynamics. Hydrobiologia 393, 83–94 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003574706608
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003574706608