Modelling nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in a mesocosm pelagic ecosystem in Laizhou Bay in China

A model of nitrogen and phosphorus dynamics in mesocosm experiments was established on the basis of a summary and synthesis of the existing models. The established model comprised seven state variables(DIN,PO4-P,DON,DOP,phytoplankton,zooplankton and detritus) and five modules - phytoplankton,zooplankton,dissolved inorganic nutrients,dissolved organic nutrients and detritus. Comparison with the in situ experimental data in Laizhou Bay at the end of August 2002 showed that this model could properly simulate t...     

Tempo-spatial variation of nutrient and chlorophyll-α concentrations from summer to winter in the Zhangzi Island Area (Northern Yellow Sea)

Nutrient and Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) concentrations were investigated monthly along three transects extending from a mariculture area to open waters around the Zhangzi Island area from July to December 2009. The objective of this study is to illustrate food availability to the bottom-sowed scallop Patinopecten yessoensis under the influences of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM), freshwater input and feedbacks of cultivated scallops. Significant thermal stratification was present in open waters from July to October, and salinity decreased in July and August in surface layers in the mariculture area. Nutrient concentrations increased with depth in both areas in summer, but were similar through water column in November and December. On average, nutrient increased from summer to autumn in all components except ammonia. Nutrient concentrations lower than the minimum thresholds for phytoplankton growth were present only in upper layers in summer, but stoichiometric nitrogen limitation existed in the entire investigation period. Column-averaged Chl-a concentration was lower in open waters than in mariculture area in all months. It increased significantly in mariculture area in August and October, and was less variable in open waters. Our results show that nutrients limitation to phytoplankton growth is present mainly in upper layer in association with stratification caused by YSCWM in summer. Freshwater input and upwelling of nutrients accumulated in YSCWM can stimulate phytoplankton production in mariculture area. Farming activities may change stoichiometric nutrient ratios but have less influence on Chl-a concentration.     

Numerical simulation of nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics in Guangxi coastal bays,China

The increasing riverine pollutants have resulted in nutrient enrichment and deterioration of water quality in the coastal water of Guangxi Province, China. However, the quantitative relationship between nutrient loads and water quality responses, which is crucial for developing eutrophication control strategies, is not well studied. In this study, the riverine fluxes of nutrients were quantified and integrated with nutrient cycling and phytoplankton dynamics by using box models for Guangxi coastal bays. The model concepts and biogeochemical equations were the same; while most model parameters were specific for each bay. The parameters were calibrated with seasonal observations during 2006–2007, and validated with yearly averaged measurements in 2009. The general features of nutrient and phytoplankton dynamics were reproduced, and the models were proved feasible under a wide range of bay conditions. Dissolved inorganic nitrogen was depleted during the spring algal bloom in Zhenzhu Bay and Fangcheng Bay with relatively less nutrient inputs. Phosphorus concentration was high in spring, which decreased then due to continuous phytoplankton consumption. Chlorophyll-a concentration reached its annual maximum in summer, but was the minimum in winter. Eutrophication was characterized by both an increase in nutrient concentrations and phytoplankton biomass in Lianzhou Bay. Either about 80% reduction of nitrogen or 70% reduction of phosphorus was required to control the algal bloom in Lianzhou Bay. Defects of the models were discussed and suggestions to the environmental protection of Guangxi coastal bays were proposed.     

Size-fractionated phytoplankton biomass in autumn of the Changjiang （Yangtze） River Estuary and its adjacent waters after the Three Gorges Dam construction

A cruise was undertaken from 3rd to 8th November 2004 in Changjiang （Yangtze） River Estuary and its adjacent waters to investigate the spatial biomass distribution and size composition of phytoplankton. Chlorophyll-a （Chl-a） concentration ranged 0.42-1.17 μg L^-1 and 0.41-10.43 μg L^-1 inside and outside the river mouth, with the mean value 0.73 μg L^-1 and 1.86 μg L^-1, respectively. Compared with the Chl-a concentration in summer of 2004, the mean value was much lower inside, and a little higher outside the river mouth. The maximal Chl-a was 10.43 μg L^-1 at station 18 （122.67°E, 31.25°N）, and the region of high Chl-a concentration was observed in the central survey area between 122.5°E and 123.0°E. In the stations located east of 122.5°E, Chl-a concentration was generally high in the upper layers above 5 m due to water stratification. In the survey area, the average Chl-a in sizes of 〉20 μm and 〈20 μm was 0.28 μg L^-1 and 1.40 μg L^-1, respectively. High Chl-a concentration of 〈20 μm size-fraction indicated that the nanophytoplankton and picophytoplankton contributed the most to the biomass of phytoplankton. Skeletonema costatum, Prorocentrum micans and Scrippsiella trochoidea were the dominant species in surface water. The spatial distribution of cell abundance of phytoplankton was patchy and did not agree well with that of Chl-a, as the cell abundance could not distinguish the differences in shape and size of phytoplankton cells. Nitrate and silicate behaved conservatively, but the former could probably be the limitation factor to algal biomass at offshore stations. The distribution of phosphate scattered considerably, and its relation to the phytoplankton biomass was complicated.     

Distributions of inorganic nutrients in the bohai sea of china

1　Introduction　TheBohaiSeaislocatedinthenorthernChinawithlongitudesofbetween 117°38′Eand 12 2°31′Eandlat itudesofbetween 37°0 8′Nand 4 1°0 2′N .Itisashal lowseawithanaveragewaterdepthof 18m (LiuandZhang ,2 0 0 0 ) .Severalbigrivers ,suchastheLiaoheRiver,theHaiheRiverandtheYellowRiver ,findtheirwaysintotheBohaiSeaandtransportlargeamountofnutrientsandsuspendedmattersfromthecontinentintothesea (Zhangetal.,1994 ;Zhang ,1996 ) .Duringthelasttwodecades ,marineenviron mentintheBohai…     

A field study on the conversion ratio of phytoplankton biomass carbon to chlorophyll-<Emphasis Type="Italic">a</Emphasis> in Jiaozhou Bay,China

A one-year field study was conducted to determine the conversion ratio of phytoplankton biomass carbon (Phyto-C) to chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) in Jiaozhou Bay, China. We measured suspended particulate organic carbon (POC) and phytoplankton Chl-a samples collected in surface water monthly from March 2005 to February 2006. The temporal and spatial variations of Chl-a and POC concentrations were observed in the bay. Based on the field measurements, a linear regression model II was used to generate the conversion ratio of Phyto-C to Chl-a. In most cases, a good linear correlation was found between the observed POC and Chl-a concentrations, and the calculated conversion ratios ranged from 26 to 250 with a mean value of 56 μg μg⁻¹. The conversion ratio in the fall was higher than that in the winter and spring months, and had the lowest values in the summer. The ratios also exhibited spatial variations, generally with low values in the near shore regions and relatively high values in offshore waters. Our study suggests that temperature was likely to be the main factor influencing the observed seasonal variations of conversion ratios while nutrient supply and light penetration played important roles in controlling the spatial variations.     

Relationship between environmental factors and plankton in the Bayuquan Port,Liaodong Bay,China: a five-year study

To understand the relationship between the plankton community and environmental factors and water quality in the Bayuquan Port of Liaodong Bay, China, and investigations were carried out during six different periods (April 2009, April 2010, October 2011, April 2012, October 2012, and April 2013). This area was characterized by high levels of nutrient and suspended solids (SPS) during survey periods, and eutrophication led to the occurrence of red tides in April and October 2012 and April 2013. Our analyses revealed that the plankton communities of Bayuquan Port lacked stability and were affected seriously by external disturbance (e.g., oceanographic engineering and river runoff). Our data indicate that oil, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), SPS, and chlorophyll a (Chl-a) were key factors that regulated the phytoplankton and zooplankton communities. The partial redundancy analysis (partial RDA) suggested that oil and SPS were the most important environmental variables affecting the phytoplankton community in April 2010 and 2012, whereas DIN concentration played a governing role in zooplankton dynamics. Oil and Chl- a concentrations affected significantly the zooplankton community in October 2012. Therefore, the plankton communities could reflect both dynamic changes in coastal environmental factors and the ongoing eutrophication process caused by anthropogenic activities in this area.     

Water quality and eutrophication in the Guangzhou Sea Zone of the Pearl River estuary

To gain a better understanding of water quality and eutrophication, we investigated the seasonal and spatial distribution of water quality at 17 stations in the Guangzhou Sea Zone (GZSZ). Nutrients, chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), salinity, chemical oxygen demand, and other physical and chemical parameters were determined in February, May, August and October from 2005 to 2007. The concentrations showed ranges of 93.2–530.4 μmol/L for dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), 0.62–3.16 μmol/L for phosphate (PO₄-P) and 50–127 μmol/L for silicate (SiO₃-Si). The results indicated that DIN was strongly influenced by domestic sewage coming from Guangzhou City and NO₃-N was the main form of DIN in most areas, while concentrations of phosphate and silicate were generally controlled by Pearl River runoff, land-based sources along the land or islands, and algae assimilation. N/P ratios were very high in both dry season and wet season, and varied from 57 to 667, suggesting that P was potentially the most limiting nutrient in the GZSZ. The concentrations of Chl-a were 3–96 μg/L, and were highly correlated with the distribution characteristics of COD. The concentrations of nutrients have increased over the past two decades (1982–2007). This means it is necessary to control the input of nutrients to the GZSZ, especially that of phosphate.     

Examination of Silicate Limitation of Primary Production in Jiaozhou Bay, North ChinaⅢ.Judgment Method, Rules and Uniqueness of Nutrient Limitation Among N, P, and Si

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＮａｎｄＰｉｎｐｕｔｔｅｄｉｎｔｏＪｉａｏｚｈｏｕＢａｙｂｙｒｉｖｅｒｓａｎｄｂｙｓｅｗａｇｅｅｆｆｌｕｅｎｔｓｏｆｃｉｔｉｅｓ ,ｈａｖｅｍａｄｅｔｈｅＢａｙｂｅｃｏｍｅｍｏｒｅａｎｄｍｏｒｅｅｕｔｒｏｐｈｉｃｄａｙｂｙｄａｙ .Ｓｈｅｎ ( 1994)ｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｔｈａｔｐｈｙｔｏｐｌａｎｋｔｏｎｇｒｏｗｔｈｗａｓｌｉｍｉｔｅｄｂｙｔｈｅｃｈａｎｇｅｆｒｏｍｎｉｔｒｏｇｅｎｔｏｐｈｏｓｐｈｏｒｏｕｓ ;ａｎｄｔｈａｔｔｈｅｓｉｌｉｃａｔｅｃｏｎｃｅｎｔｒａｔｉｏｎｉｎＪｉａｏｚｈ…     

Examination of Silicate Limitation of Primary Production in Jiaozhou Bay,North China：Ⅲ.Judgment Method ,Rules and Uniqueness of Nutrient Limitation Among N,P,and Si

Analysis and comparison of Jiaozhou Bay data collected from May 1991 to February 1994 (12 seasonal investigations) provided by the Ecological Station of Jiaozhou Bay revealed the characteristic spatiotemporal variation of the ambient concentration Si∶DIN and Si∶16P ratios and the seasonal variation of Jiaozhou Bay Si∶DIN and Si∶16P ratios showing that the Si∶DIN ratios were <1 throughout the year in Jiaozhou Bay; and that the Si∶16P ratios were <1 throughout Jiaozhou Bay in spring, autumn and winter. The results proved that silicate limited phytoplankton growth in spring, autumn and winter in Jiaozhou Bay. Analysis of the Si∶DIN and Si∶P ratios showed that the nutrient Si has been limiting the growth of phytoplankton throughout the year in some Jiaozhou Bay waters; and that the silicate deficiency changed the phytoplankton assemblage structure. Analysis of discontinuous 1962 to 1998 nutrient data showed that there was no N or P limitation of phytoplankton growth in that period. The authors consider that the annual cyclic change of silicate limits phytoplankton growth in spring, autumn and winter every year in Jiaozhou Bay; and that in many Jiaozhou Bay waters where the phytoplankton as the predominant species need a great amount of silicate, analysis of the nutrients N or P limitation of phytoplankton growth relying only on the N and P nutrients and DIN∶P ratio could yield inaccurate conclusions. The results obtained by applying the rules of absolute and relative limitation fully support this view. The authors consider that the main function of nutrient silicon is to regulate and control the mechanism of the phytoplankton growth process in the ecological system in estuaries, bays and the sea. The authors consider that according to the evolution theory of Darwin, continuous environmental pressure gradually changes the phytoplankton assemblage's structure and the physiology of diatoms. Diatoms requiring a great deal of silicon either constantly decrease or reduce their requirement for silicon. This will cause a series of huge changes in the ecosystem so that the whole ecosystem requires continuous renewal, change and balancing. Human beings have to reduce marine pollution and enhance the capacity of continental sources to transport silicon to sustain the continuity and stability in the marine ecosystem. This study was funded by the NSFC (No. 40036010) and subsidized by Special Funds from the National Key Basic Research Program of P. R. China (G199990437), the Postdoctoral Foundation of Ocean University of Qingdao, the Director's Foundation of the Beihai Monitoring Center of the State Oceanic Administration and the Foundation of Shanghai Fisheries University.     

THE BIOGEOCHEMISTRY OF PHOTOSYNTHETIC PIGMENTS IN THE JIULONG RIVER ESTUARY AND WESTERN XIAMEN BAY

ＩＮＴＲＯＤＵＣＴＩＯＮＫｎｏｗｌｅｄｇｅｏｆｔｈｅｄｉｓｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎａｎｄｃｏｍｐｏｓｉｔｉｏｎｏｆｔｈｅｃｈｌｏｒｏｐｈｙｌｌａｎｄｃａｒｏｔｅｎｏｉｄｐｉｇｍｅｎｔｓｉｎｃｏａｓｔａｌｍａｒｉｎｅｗａｔｅｒｓｐｒｏｖｉｄｅｓｉｎｆｏｒｍａｔｉｏｎｏｎｔｈｅｐｈｙｔｏｐｌａｎｋｔｏｎｂｉｏｍａｓｓａｎｄａｌｓｏｏｎｉｔｓｃｈｅｍｏｔａｘｏｎ ｏｍｙ ,ｔｈｅｃｏｎｔｒｉｂｕｔｉｏｎｏｆｒｉｖｅｒｉｎｅｉｎｐｕｔｓ,ａｎｄｔｈｅｅａｒｌｙｄｅｇｒａｄａｔｉｏｎｒｏｕｔｅｓｏｃｃｕｒｒｉｎｇｉ…     

Distribution of nutrients and eutrophication assessment in the Bohai Sea of China

Water samples were collected in 120 stations in the Bohai Sea of China to analyze the distribution of dissolved nutrients and assess the degree of eutrophication in August 2002. The result shows that the average concentration of DIN increased and the PO4-P concentration sharply decreased compared to the previous data of corresponding period. The high concentrations of DIN and PO4-P occurred in coastal waters, especially in the bays and some river estuaries, while the high concentrations of SiO3-Si in the surface and middle depth occurred in the central area of the Bohai Sea. The average ratio of DIN/ PO4-P was much higher than the Redfield Ratio (16:1). Apparently, PO4-P was one of the limiting nutrient for phytoplankton growing in the sea. The average concentrations of DON and DOP were higher than their inorganic forms. The results of eutrophication assessment show that 22.1% of all stations were classified as violating the concentration levels of the National Seawater Quality Standard (GB 3097-1997) for DIN and only 3.9% for PO4-P. The average eutrophication index in the overall area was 0.21±0.22 and the high values occurred in Bohai Bay, Liaodong Bay and near the Yellow River estuary. This means that the state of eutrophication was generally mesotrophic in the Bohai Sea, but relatively worse in the bays, especially some river estuaries.     

Spike in phytoplankton biomass in Greenland Sea during 2009 and the correlations among chlorophyll-a,aerosol optical depth and ice cover

The distributions and correlations of chlorophyll-a(Chl-a),aerosol optical depth(AOD)and ice cover in the southeast Arctic Ocean-Greenland Sea(10°W–10°E,70°–80°N)between 2003 and 2009 were studied using satellite data and statistical analyses.Regression analysis showed correlations between Chl-a and AOD,Chl-a and ice cover,and AOD and ice cover with different time lags.The time lag of Chl-a and AOD indicated their long-term equilibrium relationship.Peaks in AOD and Chl-a and generally occurred in May and July,respectively.Despite the time lag,the correlation between Chl-a and AOD in the study region was as high as 0.7.The peak gap between Chl-a and AOD shifted for about 6 weeks during 2003–2009.In the summer and autumn of 2009,Chl-a and AOD levels were much higher than during the other years,especially in the northern band of the study region(75°–80°N).The driving forces for this localized increase in phytoplankton biomass could be mainly attributed to the very high rate of ice melting in spring and early summer and the high wind speed in autumn,together with the increased deposition of aerosol throughout the year.The unusually high AOD in the spring of 2003 was mainly due to a massive fi re in Russia,which occurred in the fi rst half of the year.Over the 7 years of the study,the sea surface temperature generally decreased.This may have been due to the release of dimethylsulfi de into the air,excreted in large amounts from abundant phytoplankton biomass,and its subsequent reaction,form large amounts of aerosol,and resulting in regional cooling.     

Macrobenthic community in the Xiaoqing River Estuary in Laizhou Bay, China

The macrobenthic community of the Xiaoqing River Estuary and the adjacent sea waters was investigated in May and November 2008, August 2009, and May and September 2010, respectively. A total of 95 species of macrobenthos were identified in the five cruises and most of them were polychaetes (46.39%), mollusks (28.86%) and crustaceans (20.62%). The Shannon-Wiener index of macrobenthos was lower than 2 in 67% sites. Along the stream channel, estuary and the coastal waters, the species of polychaetes reduced gradually, while the abundance increased at first and then decreased. The abundance was the biggest at regions with salinity of 5–20 in the estuary. The species and abundance of mollusks and crustaceans increased gradually. As for seasonal distribution, the species, abundance and biomass were higher in spring and lower in summer and autumn. Contemporaneously compared with Laizhou Bay and Yellow River Estuary, the species of macrobenthos appeared in the Xiaoqing River Estuary were much less, while the percentage of polychaetes was higher. Abundance and biomass were higher in Xiaoqing River estuary, then consequently followed by Laizhou Bay and Yellow River Estuary. The dominant species in Xiaoqing River Estuary was polychaete, and Layzhou Bay mollusk. The community structure characteristics of macrobenthos in the Xiaoqing River Estuary revealed a significant pollution status in this region.     

Short- and long-term response of phytoplankton to ENSO in Prydz Bay,Antarctica: Evidences from field measurements,remote sensing data and stratigraphic biomarker records

The study provides one of the first lines of evidence showing linkages between Antarctic phytoplankton abundance and composition in response to ENSO, based on historical reconstruction of sediment biomarkers. In addition to sediment biomarkers, field measured and remote sensing data of phytoplankton abundance were also recorded from Prydz Bay, Eastern Antarctica. Com-munity structure of field measured phytoplankton showed significant El Ni？o/La Ni？a-related succession during 1990 to 2002. In general, the number of algae species decreased during El Ni？o and La Ni？a years compared to normal years. Austral summer monthly variation of remotely sensed chlorophyll-a （Chl-a）, particulate organic carbon （POC）, and sea surface temperature （SST） indicated that ENSO impacted the timing of phytoplankton blooms during 2007 to 2011. Phytoplankton blooms （indicated by Chl-a and POC） preceded the increases in SST during El Ni？o years, and lagged behind the SST increases during La Ni？a years. Stratigraphic record of marine sedimentary lipid （brassicasterol, dinosterol and alkenones） biomarkers inferred that the proportions of different algae （diatoms, dinoflagellates and haptophytes） changed significantly between El Ni？o and La Ni？a events. The relative proportion of diatoms increased, with that of dinoflagellates being decreased during El Ni？o years, while it was reversed during La Ni？a years.     

River flow control on the phytoplankton dynamics of Chesapeake Bay

Recent observations support an emerging paradigm that climate variability dominates nutrient enrichment in costal eco-systems, which can explain seasonal and inter-annual variability of phytoplankton community composition, biomass (Chl-a), and primary production (PP). In this paper, we combined observation and modeling to investigate the regulation of phytoplankton dynamics in Chesapeake Bay. The year we chose is 1996 that has high river runoff and is usually called a ’wet year’. A 3-D physical-biogeochemical model based on ROMS was developed to simulate the seasonal cycle and the regional distributions of phytoplankton biomass and primary production in Chesapeake Bay. Based on the model results, NO3 presents a strong contrast to the river nitrate load during spring and the highest concentration in the bay reaches around 80 mmol Nm-3 . Compared with the normal year, phytoplankton bloom in spring of 1996 appears in lower latitudes with a higher concentration. Quantitative comparison between the modeled and observed seasonal averaged dissolved inorganic nitrogen concentrations shows that the model produces reliable results. The correlation coefficient r2 for all quantities exceeds 0.95, and the skill parameter for the four seasons is all above 0.95.     

Simulation of phytoplankton biomass in Quanzhou Bay using a back propagation network model and sensitivity analysis for environmental variables

Prediction and sensitivity models,to elucidate the response of phytoplankton biomass to environmental factors in Quanzhou Bay,Fujian,China,were developed using a back propagation(BP) network.The environmental indicators of coastal phytoplankton biomass were determined and monitoring data for the bay from 2008 was used to train,test and build a three-layer BP artificial neural network with multi-input and single-output.Ten water quality parameters were used to forecast phytoplankton biomass(measured as chlorophyll-a concentration).Correlation coefficient between biomass values predicted by the model and those observed was 0.964,whilst the average relative error of the network was-3.46% and average absolute error was 10.53%.The model thus has high level of accuracy and is suitable for analysis of the influence of aquatic environmental factors on phytoplankton biomass.A global sensitivity analysis was performed to determine the influence of different environmental indicators on phytoplankton biomass.Indicators were classified according to the sensitivity of response and its risk degree.The results indicate that the parameters most relevant to phytoplankton biomass are estuary-related and include pH,sea surface temperature,sea surface salinity,chemical oxygen demand and ammonium.     

Periphyton response to nitrogen and phosphorus enrichment in a eutrophic shallow aquatic ecosystem

We examined changes in biomass and species dominance of periphyton in response to nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) enrichment in 12 mesocosms representing eutrophic aquatic ecosystems. The 100-L mesocosms consisted of lake water and pond sediment, and N and P were applied weekly. Periphyton samples were taken to assess the biomass (as estimated by the concentration of chlorophyll a (chl a)) and to determine which species were dominant. The mean periphyton biomass (chl a) in the P-enriched treatment did not differ from that in the control group, but increased with N enrichment. Compared with that in the control group, the chl a concentration increased with N+P enrichment in the early stages of the experiment, but decreased in the later stages. The decline in periphyton biomass at the later stages of the experiment was due to limited light availability, which resulted from the increased phytoplankton density in the experiment. The nutrient enrichment treatments resulted in changes in the dominant algal species in the periphyton, suggesting that various algal species showed different responses to different nutrients. The results of this study have implications for nutrient management in aquatic ecosystems.     

Changes in nitrogen and phosphorus and their effects on phytoplankton in the Bohai Sea

Systematic studies of the changes in dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and their effects on phytoplankton over the last 30 years in the Bohai Sea are presented. The amount of sewage disposal, use of fertilizer and the Huanghe River runoff were found to have a significant influence on the DIN or DIP concentrations in the Bohai Sea over the last 30 years. Moreover, the changes in DIN and DIP resulted in changes in the limiting nutrients of phytoplankton in the Bohai Sea from nitrogen in the early 1980s to nitrogen-phosphorus in the late 1980s, and then to phosphorus after the 1990s. In addition, changes in nitrogen and phosphorus had a significant effect on the phytoplankton community structure. The half saturation constant (K _s) was used to evaluate the effect of nutrients on the phytoplankton community structure in the Bohai Sea over the last 30 years. Cell abundance percentages of dominant phytoplankton species with high K _s values for phosphorus and low K _s values for nitrogen have decreased since the 1980s, while those of dominant phytoplankton species with low K _s values for phosphorus and high K _s values for nitrogen increased during this period.     

Nutrient and eutrophication characteristics of the Dongshan Bay,South China

We recorded NO 3-N, NO 2-N, NH 4-N, PO 4-P, SiO 3-Si, salinity, and temperature data at 10 stations in the Dongshan Bay in May, June, July, August, October, and November 2008, analyzing nutrient and eutrophication characteristics. The mean concentration of dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) was 0.30–0.40 mg/dm 3; generally, NO 3-N was the main form in most areas. The mean concentrations of PO 4-P and SiO 3-Si were 0.040–0.060 mg/dm 3 and 1.00–1.50 mg/dm 3, respectively. We proved that the majority of the SiO 3-Si in the Dongshan Bay came from the Zhangjiang River, with some coming from the Bachimen Strait. DIN originated from both the Zhangjiang River and the Bachimen Strait. Most PO 4-P originated from the Bachimen Strait, and some came from the Zhangjiang River. We found that P was an overall limiting factor to the phytoplankton community in most of the Dongshan Bay, and that Si and N were in surplus. However, near the Bachimen Strait Si became a limiting factor, especially for diatoms, while P and N were in comparative surplus. We used a potential eutrophication assessment method to analyze eutrophication, and showed that the most serious eutrophication occurred near the Zhangjiang River estuary and near the Bachimen Strait. In 2008, DIN levels were four times higher than that in 1988; PO 4-P levels were threefold higher, while SiO 3-Si was approximately double. Dissolved nutrients increased between 1988 and 2008. DIN increased at the greatest rate comparing to PO 4-P and SiO 3-Si, thus the N/P and N/Si mol ratios increased. Further studies on the effects of high DIN concentrations on the phytoplankton communities and marine ecosystems of the Dongshan Bay are needed.