I. Monitoring Spring Phytoplankton Bloom Progression in (original) (raw)

There is evidence that primary productivity is inhibited in Suisun Bay, and that NH4 may be causing that inhibition. The main purpose of this study is to measure nutrients, primary production, nutrient uptake by phytoplankton and, phytoplankton biomass and species composition in Suisun Bay in the spring to determine if there is inhibition, and if so, to determine what is causing the inhibition. Suisun Bay is an area identified as critical habitat for the threatened Delta Smelt (Hobbs et al., 2006). Several important changes in the pelagic food web of this area have been documented over the last two decades indicating that food for Delta Smelt and other threatened fishes is in short supply (Müeller-Solger et al. 2002; Sommer et al. 2007). One of the most striking changes in Suisun Bay is the decline in phytoplankton between 1975- 1995 (Jassby et al. 2002) and the shift from large accumulations of phytoplankton biomass (>40 μg L-1 chlorophyll) during the summer (Cloern 1979) to muc...