A 2 year study of the phytoplankton community was carried out in the Indian River Lagoon, USA. In terms of biovolume, the phytoplankton community was generally dominated by dinoflagellates, diatoms or cyanobacteria. These phytoplankton seemed to highest in areas of low salinity and high total Nitrogen: total Phosphorus ratios. Regions of intermediate water turnover rates and high external loading of phosphorus had a prevalence of diatom blooms. In terms of individual phytoplankton taxa, the most common bloom-forming diatoms in the Indian River Lagoon system included: Skeletonema costatum,Dactyliosolen fragilissimus, Skeletonema menzelii, Cerataulina pelagica,Odontella regia, Chaetoceros lorenzianus, Rhizosolenia setigera and Thalassionema nitzschioides.
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| Diatoms |
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| Cerataulina pelagica |
The major bloom-forming dinoflagellate species included: Pheopolykrikos hartmannii, Akashiwo sanguinea,Prorocentrum micans, the potentially toxic species Pyrodinium bahamensevar. bahamense and Prorocentrum minimum.
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| Pheopolykrikos hartmannii, |
The spatial and temporal patterns observed in some of these dominant species were attributable to patterns in key environmental variables, including salinity, temperature and nutrient concentrations.
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That's interesting that they used the N/P ratio. What were their ratios and how do those compare to ours? This is a great new piece of information our lab could use!
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