Journal
ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE
Volume 194, Issue -, Pages 217-228Publisher
ACADEMIC PRESS LTD- ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ecss.2017.06.020
Keywords
Estuary; Eutrophication; Nutrients; Ecological stoichiometry; Algal bloom; Mass budget; Curonian lagoon
Categories
Funding
- BONUS project Nutrient Cocktails in Coastal zones of the Baltic Sea (CO-COA) [BONUS-2/2014]
- Water masses circulation features in the Curonian lagoon, using stable isotope tags and finite element mode (CISOCUR) project [VP1-3.1-SMM-07-K-02-086]
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Nutrient fluxes from land to sea are regulated by climatic factors governing hydrologic loading rates (e.g., storm events, snowmelt) and by internal processes within estuaries that affect nutrient transformation and retention. We compared monthly input and output fluxes of N, Si, and P at the entrance and exit of the hypereutrophic Curonian Lagoon to better understand how seasonal changes in the stoichiometry of nutrient inputs and the occurrence of algal blooms affected nutrient retention within the lagoon. Nutrient ratios were indicative of increasing Si and N limitation during the growing season, and these were associated with a shift from a diatom-based to a cyanobacteria dominated phytoplankton community. The estuary was a net sink for dissolved nutrients, but we observed large interannual difference in the overall retention of N and P. The occurrence of a large cyanobacteria bloom in 2012 was associated with increased export of particulate matter to the Baltic Sea resulting in a net surplus of P export. Bloom conditions mobilized P from sediments and resulted in a shift from net retention to net export for the lagoon. The findings of our study illustrate how changes in nutrient loading ratios influence phytoplankton community composition, which in turn alters the source-sink status of the estuary. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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