Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Nutrient concentrations and planktonic diatom-flagellate relations in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands) during and after the construction of a storm-surge barrier

  • Published:
Hydrobiologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Nutrients

The inflow of Rhine water into the Oosterschelde was strongly reduced from 1987 onwards. This caused the winter concentrations of silicate and nitrate to decrease in the Eastern compartment, while those in the deeper Western compartment, more dependent on North Sea concentrations, hardly changed. The result was a levelling of the former East-West gradients for these nutrients. In East, summer concentrations of nitrate reached limiting levels in the post-barrier period and molar nitrate/ammonium ratios became < 1, indicating that any release of nitrogen must be important to stimulate phytoplankton growth in this area. Silicate summer concentrations in East, on the other hand, were higher in the new situation. In West, differences in summer nutrient concentrations between the old and new situation were smaller than in East, due to the still continuing exchange with the North Sea.

Phytoplankton diatoms and flagellates

In East during summer, N-depletion and longer residence times caused the phytoplankton to become strongly dependent on nutrient regeneration processes and increased zooplankton grazing. Average diatom biomass declined, but flagellate biomass rose during summer. Spring conditions for phytoplankton development in this area improved due to the increased water transparency, nutrients being present in excess, and this resulted in a higher ‘new’ production of diatoms than before.

In West, summer biomass of diatoms decreased, probably due to increased consumption by mussels under conditions of longer residence times; nutrients were not limiting, due to important benthic mineralization processes and exchange with the North Sea. The previously existing West-East biomass gradients disappeared, or sometimes reversed.

Experimental (mesocosm studies) as well as field data, reported in the literature, give evidence for the given explanations.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bakker, C., 1967. Veranderingen in milieu en plankton van het Oosterscheldegebied. Vakbl. v. Biologen 47: 181–192.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, C. & I. de Vries, 1984. Phytoplankton- and nutrient dynamics in saline Lake Grevelingen (SW Netherlands) under different hydrodynamical conditions in 1978–1980. Neth. J. Sea Res. 18: 191–220.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, C., P. M. J. Herman & M. Vink, 1990. Changes in seasonal succession of phytoplankton induced by the storm-surge barrier in the Oosterschelde (SW-Netherlands). J. Plankton Res. 12: 947–972.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, C., P. M. J. Herman & M. Vink, 1994. A new trend in the development of the phytoplankton in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands) during and after the construction of a storm-surge barrier. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 79–100.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakker, C. & P. van Rijswijk, 1994. Zooplankton biomass in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands) before, during and after the construction of a storm-surge barrier. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 127–143.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boynton, W. R., W. M. Kemp & C. G. Osborne, 1980. Nutrient fluxes across the sediment-water interface in the turbid zone of a coastal plain estuary. In: V. S. Kennedy (ed): Estuarine perspectives. Academic Press, New York: 93–109.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brzezinsky, M. A., 1985. The Si:C:N ratio of marine diatoms: interspecific variability and the effect of some environmental variables. J. Phycol. 21: 347–357.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coosen, J., F. Twisk, M. W. M. van der Tol, R. H. D. Lambeck, M. R. van Stralen & P. M. Meire, 1994. Variability in stock assessment of cockles (Cerastoderma edule L.) in the Oosterschelde (in 1980–1990), in relation to environmental factors. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 381–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, D. J., P. H. Nienhuis & B. J. Kater, 1994. Microphytobenthos in the Oosterschelde estuary (The Netherlands), 1981–1990; consequences of a changed tidal regime. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 183–195.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Jong, S. A., P. A. G. Hofman, A. J. J. Sandee & E. J. Wagenvoort, 1990. Primary production of benthic microalgae in the Oosterschelde estuary (SW-Netherlands). Balans nota 43, DIHO-RWS.

  • De Vries, I. & C. F. Hopstaken, 1984. Nutrient cycling and ecosystem behaviour in a salt-water lake. Neth. J. Sea. Res. 18: 221–245.

    Google Scholar 

  • Drinkwaard, A. C., 1960. The quality of oysters in relation to environmental conditions in the Oosterschelde in 1958. Ann. Biol. 15: 224–233.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dronkers, J. & J. T. F. Zimmerman, 1982. Some principles of mixing in tidal lagoons with examples of tidal basins in the Oosterschelde. In: P. Lasserre & H. Postma (eds), Coastal Lagoons. Proc. Int. Symp. Coastal Lagoons, Gauthier-Villars, pp. 460–474.

  • Harrison, P. J. & D. H. Turpin, 1982. The manipulation of physical, chemical and biological factors to select species from natural phytoplankton communities. In: G. D. Grice & M. R. Reeve (eds), Marine mesocosms, biological and d chemical research in experimental ecosystems: Springer-Verlag, New York/Heidelberg/Berlin: 275–289.

    Google Scholar 

  • Helder, W., 1974. The cycle of dissolved inorganic nitrogen compounds in the Dutch Wadden Sea. Neth. J. Sea Res. 8: 154–173.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herman, P. M. J. & H. Scholten, 1990. Can suspension-feeders stabilise estuarine ecosystems? In: M. Barnes & R. N. Gibson (eds): Trophic Relationships in the Marine Environment, Proc. 24th Europ. Mar. Biol. Symp., Aberdeen Univ. Press: 104–116.

  • Howarth, R. W., 1988. Nutrient limitation of net primary production in marine ecosystems. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 19: 89–110.

    Google Scholar 

  • Korringa, P., 1941. Experiments and observations on swarming, pelagic life and settling in the European flat oyster, Ostrea edulis L. Arch. Néerl. Zool. 5: 1–249.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, J. J., W. R. Taylor and L. J. Taft, 1977. Nitrogenous nutrition of the plankton in the Chesapeake Bay. 1. Nutrient availability and phytoplankton preferences. Limnol. Oceanogr. 22: 996–1011.

    Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy, J. J. & J. C. Goldman, 1979. Nitrogenous nutrition of marine phytoplankton in nutrient-depleted waters. Science 203: 670–672.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nienhuis, P. H. & A. C. Smaal, 1994. The Oosterschelde estuary, a case study of a changing ecosytmem: an introduction. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nixon, S., 1981. Remineralization and nutrient cycling in coastal marine ecosystems. In: B. J. Neilson & L. E. Cronin (eds): Estuaries and nutrients, Humana Press, Clifton, New Jersey: 111–138.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. R. & M. Takahashi, 1973. Environmental control of phytoplankton cell size. Limnol. Oceanogr. 18: 511–515.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parsons, T. R., Y. Maila & C. M. Lalli, 1984. A manual of chemical and biological methods for seawater analysis. Pergamon Press, Oxford Frankfurt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prins, T. C. & A. C. Smaal, 1994. The role of the blue mussel Mytilus edulis in the cycling of nutrients in the Oosterschelde estuary (The Netherlands). Hydrobiologia 282/283: 413–429.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smayda, T. J., 1978. From phytoplankters to biomass. In: A. Sournia (ed.), Phytoplankton Manual. Unesco, Paris, pp. 273–279.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stortelder, P. B. M., J. S. L. Vink & P. F. Havermans, 1984. Waterkwaliteitskenmerken van de Oosterschelde en Schelde-Rijn Verbinding. RWS-note 83.13.

  • Tackx, M. L. M., C. Bakker, J. W. Francke & M. Vink, 1989. Size and phytoplankton selection by Oosterschelde zooplankton. Neth. J. Sea Res. 23: 35–43.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tackx, M. L. M., C. Bakker & P. van Rijswijk, 1990. Zooplankton grazing pressure in the Oosterschelde (The Netherlands). Neth. J. Sea Res. 25: 405–415.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tackx, M. L. M., P. M. J. Herman, P. Van Rijswijk, M. Vink & C. Bakker, 1994. Plankton size distributions and trophic relations before and after the construction of the stormsurge barrier in the Oosterschelde estuary. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 145–152.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, M., D. L. Seibert & W. H. Thomas, 1977. Occasional blooms of phytoplankton during summer in Saanich Inlet, B. C., Canada. Deep-Sea Res. 24: 775–780.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takahashi, M., I. Koike, K. Iseki, P. K. Bienfang & A. Hattori, 1982. Phytoplankton species' responses to nutrient changes in experimental enclosures and coastal waters. In: G. D. Grice & M. R. Reeve (eds): Marine mesocosms, biological and chemical research in experimental ecosystems. Springer Verlag, New York/Heidelberg/Berlin: 333–340.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van der Tol, M. & H. Scholten, 1992. Response of the foodweb of the Oosterschelde to a changing environment: functional or adaptive? Neth. J. Sea Res. 30: 175–190.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Geldermalsen, L. A., 1985. Evaluation of seasonal nutrient dynamics in the Oosterschelde (SW-Netherlands). Neth. J. Sea Res. 19: 207–216.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Stralen, M. R. & R. D. Dijkema, 1994. Mussel culture in a changing environment: the effects of a coastal engineering project on mussel culture (Mytilus edulis L.) in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands). Hydrobiologia 282/283: 359–379.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vegter, F. & P. R. M. De Visscher, 1987. Nutrients and phytoplankton primary production in the marine tidal Oosterschelde estuary (The Netherlands). Hydrobiol. Bull. 21: 149–158.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vroon, J., 1994. Hydrodynamic characteristics of the Oosterschelde in recent decades. Hydrobiologia 282/283: 17–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetsteyn, L. P. M. J., J. C. H. Peeters, R. N. M. Duin, F. Vegter & P. R. M. de Visscher, 1990. Phytoplankton primary production and nutrients in the Oosterschelde (The Netherlands) during the pre-barrier period 1980–1984. Hydrobiologia 195: 163–177.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wetsteyn, L. P. M. J. & C. Bakker, 1991. Abiotic characteristics and phytoplankton primary production in relation to a large-scale coastal engineering project in the Oosterschelde (The Netherlands): a preliminary evaluation. In: M. Elliott & J. P. Ducrotoy (eds). Estuaries and coasts: spatial and temporal inter-comparisons. Proc. ECSA 19 Symp., 1989. Olsen & Olsen, p. 365–373.

  • Wetsteyn, L. P. M. J. & J. C. Kromkamp, 1994. Turbidity, nutrients and phytoplankton primary production in the Oosterschelde (The Netherlands) before, during and after a large-scale coastal engineering project (1980–1990). Hydrobiologia 282/283: 61–78.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Vierstraat 28, 4401, Yerseke, EA, The Netherlands

    C. Bakker & M. Vink

Authors
  1. C. Bakker
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. M. Vink
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Bakker, C., Vink, M. Nutrient concentrations and planktonic diatom-flagellate relations in the Oosterschelde (SW Netherlands) during and after the construction of a storm-surge barrier. Hydrobiologia 282, 101–116 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024624

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00024624

Key words

Search

Navigation