Journal
MARINE POLLUTION BULLETIN
Volume 107, Issue 1, Pages 161-169Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.04.004
Keywords
Chlorophyll; Water clarity; Oligotrophication; Skeletonema; Narragansett Bay; Nutrient loading; Suspended solids
Funding
- Rhode Island Sea Grant [RISG14-R/C-1214-93-01]
- US EPA (STAR Grant) [RD83244301]
- RI Science and Technology Advisory Council (RI STAC)
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Dramatic changes occurred in Narragansett Bay during the 1980s: water clarity increased, while phytoplankton abundance and chlorophyll concentration decreased. We examine how changes in total suspended solids (TSS) loading from wastewater treatment plants may have influenced this decline in phytoplankton chlorophyll. TSS loading, light and phytoplankton observations were compiled and a light- and temperature-dependent Skeletonema-based phytoplankton growth model was applied to evaluate chlorophyll supported by TSS nitrogen during 1983-1995. TSS loading declined 75% from similar to 0.60 x 10(6) kg month(-1) to similar to 0.15 x 10(6) kg month(-1) during 1983-1995. Model results indicate that nitrogen reduction related to TSS reduction was minor and explained a small fraction (similar to 15%) of the long-term chlorophyll decline. The decline in NBay TSS loading appears to have increased water clarity and in situ irradiance and contributed to the long-term chlorophyll decline by inducing a physiological response of a similar to 20% reduction in chlorophyll per cell. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available