Trends in estuarine phytoplankton ecology
Lancelot, C.; Muylaert, K. (2011). Trends in estuarine phytoplankton ecology, in: Wolanski, E. et al. Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science: 7. Functioning ecosystems at the land-ocean interface. pp. 5-15. dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-374711-2.00703-8 In: Wolanski, E. et al. (2011). Treatise on Estuarine and Coastal Science: 7. Functioning ecosystems at the land-ocean interface. Elsevier: Amsterdam. ISBN 978-0-12-387747-5. 206 pp., more |
| Keywords | Aquatic communities > Plankton > Phytoplankton
Estuarine environment
Marine/Coastal |
| Abstract | A review of the multi-stressors behind phytoplankton development in estuaries shows that differences in salinity tolerances and in physical processes (freshwater and particle transport, tidal amplitude, mixing processes, and in upward/downward boundaries) feature in the phytoplankton successions and magnitudes that are specific to each estuary. Nutrient loads play generally only a small role except in subtropical and tropical estuaries during periods of low discharge. The high variability of estuaries worldwide makes their monitoring difficult and the global assessment of their functioning in response to changes in climate and anthropogenic pressures stresses the need to develop online fully coupled river–estuary–coastal ocean physical–biological models at regional scales. |
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