Moderate effect of damming the Romaine River (Quebec, Canada) on coastal plankton dynamics

• Published in: Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science
• Main Authors: Senneville, Simon, Schloss, Irene Ruth, St-Onge Drouin, Simon, Bélanger, Simon, Winkler, Gesche, Dumont, Dany, Johnston, Patricia, St-Onge, Isabelle
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Academic Press Ltd - Elsevier Science Ltd
• Subjects: BIOPHYSICAL MODELLING; CANADA; LIGHT ATTENUATION; MINGAN ARCHIPELAGO; PLANKTON; QUÉBEC; RIVER DAMMING; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.7; https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1; Austral; Canada; Argentino; Argentina; Bélanger; Dirección Nacional del Antártico; Instituto Antártico Argentino; Tierra del Fuego
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/11336/86742

Rivers’ damming disrupts the seasonal cycle of freshwater and nutrient inputs into the marine system, which can lead to changes in coastal plankton dynamics. Here we use a 3-D 5-km resolution coupled biophysical model and downscale it to a 400-m resolution to simulate the effect of damming the Romaine River in Québec, Canada, which discharges on average 327 m3 s−1 of freshwater into the northern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Model results are compared with environmental data obtained from 2 buoys and in situ sampling near the Romaine River mouth during the 2013 spring–summer period. Noteworthy improvements are made to the light attenuation parametrization and the trophic links of the biogeochemical model. The modelled variables reproduced most of the observed levels of variability. Comparisons between natural and regulated discharge simulation show differences in primary production and in the dominance of plankton groups in the Romaine River plume. The maximum increase in primary production when averaged over the inner part of Mingan Archipelago is 41%, but 7.1% when the primary production anomaly is averaged from March to September. Fil: Senneville, Simon. Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski; Canadá. Université du Québec à Rimouski; Canadá Fil: Schloss, Irene Ruth. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Austral de Investigaciones Científicas; Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Tierra del Fuego; Argentina. Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski; Canadá Fil: St-Onge Drouin, Simon. Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski; Canadá. Université du Québec à Rimouski; Canadá Fil: Bélanger, Simon. Université du Québec à Rimouski; Canadá Fil: Winkler, Gesche. Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski; Canadá. Université du Québec à Rimouski; Canadá Fil: Dumont, Dany. Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski; Canadá. Université du ...