Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea
Marine phytoplankton biomass dynamics are affected by eutrophication, ocean warming, and ocean acidification. These changing abiotic conditions may impact phytoplankton biomass and its spatiotemporal dynamics. In this study, we used a nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton (NPZ) model to quantify the re...
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MDPI AG
2023
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a91a997ae941443e8f89574c0d1aa209 2023-09-26T15:21:42+02:00 Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea Viviana Otero Steven Pint Klaas Deneudt Maarten De Rijcke Jonas Mortelmans Lennert Schepers Patricia Martin-Cabrera Koen Sabbe Wim Vyverman Michiel Vandegehuchte Gert Everaert 2023-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11081510 https://doaj.org/article/a91a997ae941443e8f89574c0d1aa209 EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/8/1510 https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1312 doi:10.3390/jmse11081510 2077-1312 https://doaj.org/article/a91a997ae941443e8f89574c0d1aa209 Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Vol 11, Iss 1510, p 1510 (2023) primary production ecosystem model phytoplankton biomass dynamics environmental conditions Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11081510 2023-08-27T00:35:24Z Marine phytoplankton biomass dynamics are affected by eutrophication, ocean warming, and ocean acidification. These changing abiotic conditions may impact phytoplankton biomass and its spatiotemporal dynamics. In this study, we used a nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton (NPZ) model to quantify the relative importance of the bottom-up and top-down determinants of phytoplankton biomass dynamics in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS). Using four years (2014–2017) of monthly observations of nutrients, solar irradiance, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, and zooplankton biomass at ten locations, we disentangled the monthly, seasonal, and yearly variation in phytoplankton biomass dynamics. To quantify how the relative importance of determinants changed along a near–offshore gradient, the analysis was performed for three spatial regions, i.e., the nearshore region (<10 km to the coastline), the midshore region (10–30 km), and the offshore region (>30 km). We found that, from year 2014 to 2017, the phytoplankton biomass dynamics ranged from 1.4 to 23.1 mg Chla m −3 . Phytoplankton biomass dynamics follow a general seasonal cycle, as is the case in other temperate regional seas, with a distinct spring bloom (5.3–23.1 mg Chla m −3 ) and a modest autumn bloom (2.9–5.4 mg Chla m −3 ). This classic bimodal bloom pattern was not observed between 2003 and 2010 in the BPNS. The seasonal pattern was most expressed in the nearshore region. The relative contribution of factors determining phytoplankton biomass dynamics varied spatially and temporally. Throughout a calendar year, solar irradiance and zooplankton grazing were the most influential determinants in all regions, i.e., they jointly explained 38–65% of the variation in the offshore region, 45–71% in the midshore region, and 56–77% in the nearshore region. In the near- and midshore regions, nutrients were the greatest limit on phytoplankton production in the month following the spring bloom (44–55%). Nutrients were a determinant throughout the year in the ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 11 8 1510 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
primary production ecosystem model phytoplankton biomass dynamics environmental conditions Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
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primary production ecosystem model phytoplankton biomass dynamics environmental conditions Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 Viviana Otero Steven Pint Klaas Deneudt Maarten De Rijcke Jonas Mortelmans Lennert Schepers Patricia Martin-Cabrera Koen Sabbe Wim Vyverman Michiel Vandegehuchte Gert Everaert Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea |
topic_facet |
primary production ecosystem model phytoplankton biomass dynamics environmental conditions Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Marine phytoplankton biomass dynamics are affected by eutrophication, ocean warming, and ocean acidification. These changing abiotic conditions may impact phytoplankton biomass and its spatiotemporal dynamics. In this study, we used a nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton (NPZ) model to quantify the relative importance of the bottom-up and top-down determinants of phytoplankton biomass dynamics in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS). Using four years (2014–2017) of monthly observations of nutrients, solar irradiance, sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, and zooplankton biomass at ten locations, we disentangled the monthly, seasonal, and yearly variation in phytoplankton biomass dynamics. To quantify how the relative importance of determinants changed along a near–offshore gradient, the analysis was performed for three spatial regions, i.e., the nearshore region (<10 km to the coastline), the midshore region (10–30 km), and the offshore region (>30 km). We found that, from year 2014 to 2017, the phytoplankton biomass dynamics ranged from 1.4 to 23.1 mg Chla m −3 . Phytoplankton biomass dynamics follow a general seasonal cycle, as is the case in other temperate regional seas, with a distinct spring bloom (5.3–23.1 mg Chla m −3 ) and a modest autumn bloom (2.9–5.4 mg Chla m −3 ). This classic bimodal bloom pattern was not observed between 2003 and 2010 in the BPNS. The seasonal pattern was most expressed in the nearshore region. The relative contribution of factors determining phytoplankton biomass dynamics varied spatially and temporally. Throughout a calendar year, solar irradiance and zooplankton grazing were the most influential determinants in all regions, i.e., they jointly explained 38–65% of the variation in the offshore region, 45–71% in the midshore region, and 56–77% in the nearshore region. In the near- and midshore regions, nutrients were the greatest limit on phytoplankton production in the month following the spring bloom (44–55%). Nutrients were a determinant throughout the year in the ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Viviana Otero Steven Pint Klaas Deneudt Maarten De Rijcke Jonas Mortelmans Lennert Schepers Patricia Martin-Cabrera Koen Sabbe Wim Vyverman Michiel Vandegehuchte Gert Everaert |
author_facet |
Viviana Otero Steven Pint Klaas Deneudt Maarten De Rijcke Jonas Mortelmans Lennert Schepers Patricia Martin-Cabrera Koen Sabbe Wim Vyverman Michiel Vandegehuchte Gert Everaert |
author_sort |
Viviana Otero |
title |
Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea |
title_short |
Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea |
title_full |
Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea |
title_fullStr |
Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea |
title_full_unstemmed |
Pronounced Seasonal and Spatial Variability in Determinants of Phytoplankton Biomass Dynamics along a Near–Offshore Gradient in the Southern North Sea |
title_sort |
pronounced seasonal and spatial variability in determinants of phytoplankton biomass dynamics along a near–offshore gradient in the southern north sea |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11081510 https://doaj.org/article/a91a997ae941443e8f89574c0d1aa209 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Vol 11, Iss 1510, p 1510 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/11/8/1510 https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1312 doi:10.3390/jmse11081510 2077-1312 https://doaj.org/article/a91a997ae941443e8f89574c0d1aa209 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse11081510 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
1510 |
_version_ |
1778146974000742400 |