Biohydrochemical portrait of the White Sea

• Published in: Computer Research and Modeling
• Main Authors: Alexander Vasilievich Leonov, Еkaterina Vladimirovna Kоltovskaya, Оxana Viktorovna Chicherina
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Russian
• Published: Institute of Computer Science 2018
• Subjects: White Sea ecosystem; nutrients; heterotrophic bacterioplankton; diatom phytoplankton; herbivorous and predatory zooplankton; detritus; trophic chain; CNPSi-model of nutrient biotransformation; ecological portrait of the White Sea; the comparison of the observed and calculated parameters of diatoms (abundance; products; biomass; chlorophyll a); Applied mathematics. Quantitative methods; T57-57.97; Mathematics; QA1-939; Chupa; Kandalaksha; Keret; Keret’; Niva; Onega; Solovetsky; White Sea; dvina; Solovetsky Islands
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.20537/2076-7633-2018-10-1-125-160; https://doaj.org/article/aacbb7bb17e74219aaf9a0912569d480

The biohydrochemical portrait of the White Sea is constructed on the CNPSi-model calculations based on long-term mean annual observations (average monthly hydrometeorological, hydrochemical and hydrobiological parameters of the marine environment) as well as on updated information on the nutrient input to the sea with the runoff of the main river tributaries (Niva, Onega, Northern Dvina, Mezen, Kem, Keret). Parameters of the marine environment are temperature, light, transparency, and biogenic load. Ecological characteristics of the sea "portrait" were calculated for nine marine areas (Kandalaksha, Onega, Dvinsky, Mezensky Bays, Solovetsky Islands, Basin, Gorlot, Voronka, Chupa Bay), these are: the concentration changes of organic and mineral compounds of biogenic elements (C, N, P, Si), the biomass of organisms of the lower trophic level (heterotrophic bacteria, diatomic phytoplankton, herbivorous and predatory zooplankton) and other ones (rates of substance concentration and organism biomass changes, internal and external substance flows, balances of individual substances and nutrients as a whole). Parameters of the marine environment state (water temperature, ratio of mineral fractions N P) and dominant diatom phytoplankton in the sea (abundance, production, biomass, chlorophyll content a) were calculated and compared with the results of individual surveys (for 1972-1991 and 2007-2012) of the White Sea water areas. The methods for estimating the values of these parameters from observations and calculations differ, however, the calculated values of the phytoplankton state are comparable with the measurements and are similar to the data given in the literature. Therefore, according to the literature data, the annual production of diatoms in the White Sea is estimated at 1.5-3 million tons C (at a vegetation period of 180 days), and according to calculations it is ~2 and 3.5 million tons C for vegetation period of 150 and 180 days respectively.