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The Influence of Coastal Nutrients on Phytoplankton Productivity in a Shallow Low Inflow Estuary, Drakes Estero, California (USA)

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Abstract

Seasonal wind-driven upwelling along the U.S. West Coast supplies large concentrations of nitrogen to surface waters that drives high primary production. However, the influence of coastal upwelled nutrients on phytoplankton productivity in adjacent small estuaries and bays is poorly understood. This study was conducted in Drakes Estero, California, a low inflow estuary located in the Point Reyes National Seashore and the site of an oyster mariculture facility that produces 40 % of the oysters harvested in California. Measurements of nutrients, chlorophyll a, phytoplankton functional groups, and phytoplankton carbon and nitrogen uptake were made between May 2010 and June 2011. A sea-to-land gradient in nutrient concentrations was observed with elevated nitrate at the coast and higher ammonium at the landward region. Larger phytoplankton cells (>5 μm diameter) were dominant within the outer and middle Estero where phytoplankton primary productivity was fueled by nitrate and f-ratios were >0.5; the greatest primary production rates were in the middle Estero. Primary production was lowest within the inner Estero, where smaller phytoplankton cells (<5 μm) were dominant, and nitrogen uptake was dominated by ammonium. Phytoplankton blooms occurred at the outer and middle Estero and were dominated by diatoms during the spring and dry-upwelling seasons but dinoflagellates during the fall. Small flagellated algae (>2 μm) were dominant at the inner Estero where no blooms occurred. These results indicate that coastal nitrate and phytoplankton are imported into Drakes Estero and lead to periods of high new production that can support the oyster mariculture; a likely scenario also for other small estuaries and bays.

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Acknowledgments

Research and academic experiences were funded in part by the PADI Foundation, Achievement Rewards for College Scientists, California State Universities (CSU) Council on Ocean Affairs, Science & Technology (COAST), College of Science and Engineering and Department of Biology at SFSU, a CSU Pre-Doctoral Scholarship, and the Sally Cassanova Scholarship. A thank you for assisting with the laboratory, field, or logistics of this project goes to J. Largier, A. Marchi, Drakes Bay Oyster Company, B. Becker of the National Park Service; the RTC community, E. Carpenter, S. Blaser, E. Kress, J. Fuller, A. Johnson, J. Lee, J. Huggans, M. Maheigan and A. Pimenta.

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  1. Alexander E. Parker

    Present address: California Maritime Academy, 200 Maritime Academy Drive, Vallejo, CA, 94590, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies, San Francisco State University, 3152 Paradise Drive, Tiburon, CA, 94920, USA

    Christina M. Buck, Frances P. Wilkerson, Alexander E. Parker & Richard C. Dugdale

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  1. Christina M. Buck
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Correspondence to Frances P. Wilkerson.

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Communicated by James L Pinckney

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Buck, C.M., Wilkerson, F.P., Parker, A.E. et al. The Influence of Coastal Nutrients on Phytoplankton Productivity in a Shallow Low Inflow Estuary, Drakes Estero, California (USA). Estuaries and Coasts 37, 847–863 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-013-9737-6

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