IMES
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Northern Indian River Lagoon - Seaira
During my research of the sea grass beds in the Indian River Lagoon, I would like to concentrate on the northern region of the lagoon, including Mosquito Lagoon. I am interested in this particular area because of a recent brown tide that was very destructive in 2012, this algae bloom started in the northern lagoon region. I also noticed from the 2011 "superbloom" investigation that the northern region of the lagoon had extremely high levels of chlorophyll a still present in the water from the June 2012 water sampling that was conducted. I found through my research that the brown tide experienced in 2012 was a result of a certain type of algae in the Pelagophyceae class, which is prevalent in marine environments. This algae goes by the name of Aureoumbra lagunensis, and when a bloom of this algae grows out of hand from excess nutrients it can cause poor water clarity, and light attenuation resulting in death of sea grasses and organisms in the pelagic and benthic environments.
I hope that from the 5 sample sites I select from the lagoon that I can get a over-all picture of the health of the lagoon in the Northern region.
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Using your 5 samples, what variables are you planing to analyze in order to determine or measure the "health" of the lagoon?--and, why did you choose these variables?
ReplyDeleteI chose turbidity, and TSS to determine water clarity. Water clarity is important to all aquatic plants, and is necessary for light attenuation and photosynthesis. I also want to test for chlorophyll a because when algae blooms occur the chlorophyll levels are in high concentrations. I wanted to test for oxygen, phosphates, and possibly nitrates. Nutrient testing is important to me because I wanted to see if there is a direct correlation between my nutrient concentrations, and the health of the sea grass. I also predict that if I find high concentrations of nitrates, I will also in turn find low oxygen levels in the water. I was also considering taking pH readings because when algae blooms are present a lot of photosynthetic activity occurs and the byproduct hydroxide is given off, raising the pH levels. A pH level of 8+ may be a good indicator blooms are present.
ReplyDeleteHi Seaira: Please describe the difference between phosphate and phosphorous; i.e. the phosphorous used in fertilizer. Do both have an affect on water? How does it change the pH?
ReplyDeletePhosphorus is a necessary nutrient in aquatic environments, it becomes problematic at higher than normal concentrations. Too much phosphorus causes accelerated algae growth, and lowered oxygen levels. Pure phosphorus is not often found in nature, so usually phosphorus is part of a phosphate molecule. When dealing with aquatic systems you can have organic and inorganic phosphates. The sources of phosphates can vary from fertilizer runoff, human and animal waste runoff, and disturbed wetland areas. The pH is typically affected when large algae blooms cause eutrophic water conditions, and large amounts of photosynthesis occur giving off hydroxide.
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