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Climatic Controls on Phytoplankton Biomass in a Sub-tropical Estuary, Florida Bay, USA

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Abstract

The extraction of climatic signals from time series of biogeochemical data is further complicated in estuarine regions because of the dynamic interaction of land, ocean, and atmosphere. We explored the behavior of potential global and regional climatic stressors to isolate specific shifts or trends, which could have a forcing role on the behavior of biogeochemical descriptors of water quality and phytoplankton biomass from Florida Bay, as an example of a sub-tropical estuary. We performed statistical analysis and subdivided the bay into six zones having unique biogeochemical characteristics. Significant shifts in the drivers were identified in all the chlorophyll a time series. Chlorophyll a concentrations closely follow global forcing and display a generalized declining trend on which seasonal oscillations are superimposed, and it is only interrupted by events of sudden increase triggered by storms which are followed by a relatively rapid return to pre-event conditions trailing again the long-term trend.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by the National Science Foundation through the Florida Coastal Everglades Long-Term Ecological Research Program (DEB-9901514). And by South Florida Water Management District (contract #4600000352). We especially thank Ed Phlips for comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. Data are available at serc.fiu.edu/wqmnetwork/. This is contribution No. 428 of the Southeast Environmental Research Center at Florida International University.

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  1. Southeast Environmental Research Center, OE-148, Florida International University, 11200 SW 8th St, Miami, FL, 33199, USA

    Henry O. Briceño & Joseph N. Boyer

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  1. Henry O. Briceño
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  2. Joseph N. Boyer
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Correspondence to Henry O. Briceño.

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Briceño, H.O., Boyer, J.N. Climatic Controls on Phytoplankton Biomass in a Sub-tropical Estuary, Florida Bay, USA. Estuaries and Coasts 33, 541–553 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9189-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-009-9189-1

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