Environmental Control of Phytoplankton Patchiness
- 1 June 1981
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Canadian Science Publishing in Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
- Vol. 38 (6) , 638-641
- https://doi.org/10.1139/f81-085
Abstract
The relative importance of the various biological, chemical and physical factors for the control of the phytoplankton patchiness in the environment was studied for the nearsurface waters of a small coastal embayment. During periods of low turbulent mixing (wind speed .ltoreq. 5 m/s), the phytoplankton patchiness was induced by local differences (taxonomic or physiological) in its production efficiency which was linked to the dynamic fluctuation in the physicochemical characteristics of the medium. For periods of high winds (.gtoreq. 5 m/s) the physical turbulent transport processes were responsible for damping out the spatial variations in the phytoplankton distribution.This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit:
- Spatial variability of phytoplankton turnover in relation to physical processes in a coastal environmentLimnology and Oceanography, 1978