Changes of nutrient concentrations and N: P: Si ratios and their possible impacts on the Huanghai Sea ecosystem

To investigate the impacts of nutrient concentrations and N:P:Si ratios on the ecosystem of the Huanghai Sea (Yellow Sea), the current status and long-term variation of nutrients concentrations and ratios as well as phytoplankton community structure in the Huanghai Sea were collected and analyzed. The results reveal great annual and seasonal fluctuations in the nutrient concentrations and N:P:Si ratios during 1998-2008 with no clear pattern observed in the whole region. Yet on a seasonal scale of spring and in the coastal regions such as the Jiaozhou Bay and Sanggou Bay, the increase of DIN concentration and N:P ratio as well as the decrease of phosphate and silicate concentrations and Si:N ratios were relatively significant. Many pelagic ecosystem changes have occurred concurrent with these changes of the nutrient regime, such as the recent increase of primary production, changes of phytoplankton chlorophyll a biomass and abundance, an increase of eutrophication, and occurrence of HABs. In addition, new trends in the variation of nutrients seem to be developing in some particular transect such as 36°N, which suggests that long-term and systematic ecosystem monitoring in the Huanghai Sea is necessary.     

Potential impacts of Three Gorges Dam in China on the ecosystem of East China Sea

The Changjiang River in China was dammed in 2003. The possible changes in matters fluxes from the river downstream after the completion of Three Gorges Dam and their potential impacts on the ecosystem of the East China Sea are discussed . The estuarine and coastal waters in the East China Sea were heavily fertilized by the inflow of nutrient-rich freshwater from the Changjiang River, which has led to severe eutrophication and frequent harmful algal blooms ,thus worsening the ecosystem health in this area. Analy- sis showed that the nutrient loadings are very likely to be reduced in the lower Changjiang River due to the construction of Three Gorges Dam. Especially for the total phosphorus, the discharges to the East China Sea will be reduced by one-third, which would relieve the severe eutrophication in this area. However, the expected decrease in the riverine silicate discharge would lead the ratio of silicon to nitrogen to be much less than 1 in the estuarine and coastal waters and thus may cause an elevation of flagellate growth. The changes in the annual water discharges and their seasonal distributions below the dam will be minor. Reduction of suspended particulate matter loading, due to the sedimentation behind the dam, will reduce the nutrient loadings of the particulate form especially for phosphorus, and decrease the turbidity of estuarine and coastal waters. On the other hand, this may enhance the erosion of the delta and the coasts as well as modifythe benthic ecosystem.     

Study on Nutrient Limitation of Phytoplankton in the Field Experiment of the Yangtze River Estuary in Summer

Introduction The growth of phytoplankton, which is the main primary producer in the ocean, is always limited by some nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. This limitation has spacial variation, and even in the same area, the nitrogen and phosphorus limitation has seasonal alternation [1]. There are many ways to determine the nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth. Among them, the enrichment bioassay is the closest to the natural condition and is accepted by many scholars [2-7]. In r…     

Using radium isotopes to evaluate the uncertainty of submarine groundwater discharge in the northeast and entirety of Daya Bay

Submarine groundwater discharge(SGD), which can be traced using naturally occurring radium isotopes, has been recognized as a significant nutrient source and land-ocean interaction passage for the coastal waters of the Daya Bay, China. However, uncertainties in assessing SGD fluxes must still be discussed in detail. In this study, we attempted to utilize the Monte Carlo method to evaluate the uncertainties of radium-derived SGD flux in the northeast and entirety of the Daya Bay. The results show...     

Responses of nutrient biogeochemistry and nitrogen cycle to seasonal upwelling in coastal waters of the eastern Hainan Island

The coastal upwelling has profound influence on the surrounding ecosystem by supplying the nutrient-replete water to the euphotic zone. Nutrient biogeochemistry was investigated in coastal waters of the eastern Hainan Island in summer 2015 and autumn 2016. From perspectives of nutrient dynamics and physical transport, the nutrient fluxes entered the upper 50 m water depth（between the mixed layer and the euphotic zone） arisen from the upwelling were estimated to be 2.5-5.4 mmol/（m²·d）,...     

夏季珠江口邻近海域表层浮游植物的碳叶绿素比值及其碳含量

Chlorophyll a(Chl a),particulate organic carbon(POC)and biogenic silica(BSi)were determined in coastal waters adjacent to the Zhujiang(Pearl)River Estuary(ZRE)during summer,in order to examine the C:Chl a ratio of phytoplankton and phytoplankton carbon in the plume-impacted coastal waters during summer,as well as to assess the relative contribution of diatoms to the phytoplankton biomass,by the regression between Chl a,POC and BSi.Our results showed that the C:Chl a ratio(g/g)of phytoplankton was high(up to 142),likely due to high light intensity and nutrient limitation.The river plume input stimulated phytoplankton growth,especially diatoms,resulting in higher relative contribution of phytoplankton carbon(55%)and diatoms(34%)to POC in the plume-impacted region than those(33%and 13%)in high salinity area,respectively.Phytoplankton carbon(up to 538μg/L)in the plume-impacted region was much higher than that(<166μg/L)in high salinity area.Our findings were helpful to improve the biogeochemical model in coastal waters adjacent to the ZRE.     

中国九龙江河口营养盐基准值研究

One of the key concerns in estuarine and coastal environments is eutrophication, which is known to be closely connected to nutrient enrichment. To control and improve surface water quality, nutrient criteria are recommended in order to provide reference conditions for the environment. However, the current datasets of nutrient criteria in China are either designed for surface water or sea water, and as such these are not suitable for assessing estuarine water quality, especially given the unique ecosystem and dynamic properties of estuaries. To address this issue in current estuarine water management, nutrient criteria have been developed for a local estuary in the southeast of China. Segmentation of the Jiulong River Estuary, China was firstly analysed through field investigations carried out during 2013–2014, which resulted in the delineation of three segments characterized by their distinct properties in relation to salinity, hydrology, ecosystems, etc. Historical records from 1997 to 2014 were then analysed using statistical modelling to develop candidate nutrient criteria for the estuary.This stage of the analysis was undertaken in combination with the study of nutrient status records from the 1980s,which were used to establish a baseline reference condition. The recommended criteria values of dissolved inorganic nitrogen(DIN) in Segments Ⅰ, Ⅱ and Ⅲ of the Jiulong River Estuary are 64, 21 and 14 μmol/L,respectively, and the corresponding values for soluble reactive phosphorus(SRP) are 0.89, 0.76 and 0.89 μmol/L,respectively. It should be emphasised that these values are site-dependent, and that different results may be achieved at other locations depending on the physical and biogeochemical characteristics of an estuary, or even a single site within a catchment. It is hoped that by demonstrating a possible methodological approach and methods of nutrient criteria derivation in the Jiulong River Estuary, the current study will offer researchers some fundamental basis from which to begin to develop more complete nutrient criteria indices for the study of nutrient conditions in other estuaries throughout China.     

过去100年来闽浙泥质区浮游植物生产力和群落结构在上升流和人类活动影响下的变化

Phytoplankton productivity and community structure in marginal seas have been altered significantly during the past three decades, but it is still a challenge to distinguish the forcing mechanisms between climate change and anthropogenic activities. High time-resolution biomarker records of two 210Pb-dated sediment cores(#34: 28.5°N, 122.272°E; CJ12-1269: 28.861 9°N, 122.515 3°E) from the Min-Zhe coastal mud area were compared to reveal changes of phytoplankton productivity and community structure over the past 100 years. Phytoplankton productivity started to increase gradually from the 1970 s and increased rapidly after the late 1990 s at Site #34; and it started to increase gradually from the middle 1960 s and increased rapidly after the late 1980 s at Site CJ12-1269. Productivity of Core CJ12-1269 was higher than that of Core #34. Phytoplankton community structure variations displayed opposite patterns in the two cores. The decreasing D/B(dinosterol/brassicasterol) ratio of Core #34 since the 1960 s revealed increased diatom contribution to total productivity. In contrast, the increasing D/B ratio of Core CJ12-1269 since the 1950 s indicated increased dinoflagellate contribution to total productivity. Both the productivity increase and the increased dinoflagellate contribution in Core CJ12-1269 since the 1950–1960s were mainly caused by anthropogenic activities, as the location was closer to the Changjiang River Estuary with higher nutrient concentration and decreasing Si/N ratios. However, increased diatom contribution in Core #34 is proposed to be caused by increased coastal upwelling, with higher nutrient concentration and higher Si/N ratios.     

Historic changes in flux of matter and nutrient budgets in the Bohai Sea

Over the past four periods （ 1959--1960, 1982--1983, 1992--1993, and 1998--1999）, the ecosystem of the Bohai Sea changed due to both a significant decrease of river water discharge from the Huanghe River and a reduction of precipitation. The shifts in nutrient chemistry could result in changes in the phytoplankton composition with an increased potential for non-diatom algal blooms. Simple box model was used to estimate the water - mass balance and nutrient budgets for the Bohai Sea. Water budgets indicate that the residual flow changed from out of the Bohai Sea before 1993, but became inflow to the Bohai Sea after then. The nutrient budgets developed indicate that the Bohai Sea was a sink for nutrients except for phosphate in 1959--1960 and 1982-- 1983 and for silicate in 1982--1983. Net water flow transports nutrients out of the Bohai Sea in 1959--1960, 1982--1983 and 1992--1993, but into the sea in 1998--1999 due to climate changes, such as precipitation and subsequent freshwater discharge. The residual fluxes of nutrients are minor relative to atmospheric deposition and riverine inputs. Conversions of phosphate values to carbon by stoichiometric ratios were used to predict that the system was net heterotrophic before 1982--1983 and net autotrophic after then. Nutrient budgets can explain the change of nutrient concentrations in the Bohai Sea except nitrates, which should include the surface runoff.     

The effects of spring-neap tide on the phytoplankton community development in the Jiaozhou Bay, China

The development of the phytoplankton community was studied in the Jiaozhou Bay during the spring to neap tide in August 2001, through three cruises and a 15 d continuous observation. This investigation indicates that diatom cell abundance increased sharply following the end of a spring tide, from 9 cells/cm^3 to a peak of 94 cells/cm^3. The dominant species composition and abundance show a quick species sequence from spring to neap tide, and the dominant species at the start phase is Skeletomena costatum, then changes to Chaetoceros curvisetus, finally it changes to Eucampia zodiacus. Silicate concentration increases during spring tide, as a result of nutrient replenishment from the water-sediment interface, its initial average concentration in neap tide is 1.39μmol/dm^3 and reached the peak average concentration of 8.40μmol/dm^3 in spring tide. But the nitrogen concentration dropped due to dilution by the low nitrogen seawater from the Huanghai Sea, its initial average concentration in neap tide is 67μmol/dm^3 and decreased to the average concentration of 54μmol/dm^3 in spring tide. The degree of silicon limitation was decreased and phytoplankton, especially diatoms, responds immediately after nutrient replenishment in th ewater column. Skeletonmea costatum, as one of the dominant species in the Jiaozhou Bay, shows a quicker response to nutrient availability than Eucampia zodiacus and Chaetoceros curvisetus. It is proposed that dominant species composition and water column stability synchronously determine the development of phytoplankton summer blooms in the Jiaozhou bay.     

Modelling the impacts of semi-intensive aquaculture on the foodweb functioning of a Nile Delta coastal lake

Nutrient loadings are an important component of aquaculture impacts as they can lead to cascade effects at the ecosystem level. An evaluation of these effects on foodweb functioning is presented and discussed for the case study of Lake Burullus in the Nile Delta, Egypt, where semi-intensive aquaculture in earthen ponds has grown remarkably in recent decades. Estimations of nutrient loads into the lake's brackish water, from agriculture and fish ponds, were assessed. A biogeochemical model was set up and calibrated to simulate the loads from nitrogen, phosphorus and phytoplankton, with and without fish ponds. The biogeochemical model was coupled offline to a foodweb model to test the effects of additional nutrient loads from aquaculture on the lake's foodweb functioning. The results obtained by comparing the present conditions of aquaculture development with a no-aquaculture scenario allowed us to identify a set of indicators of foodweb functioning which are sensitive to changes in nutrient loads from aquaculture. The limited changes in phytoplankton concentration with respect to changes in nutrient loads suggested that primary production in Lake Burullus is presently controlled largely by factors other than nutrient influxes from aquaculture. This study emphasises the potential benefits of using a combination of biogeochemical and foodweb models to assess the cumulative effects of nutrient loading from aquaculture on a receiving water body.     

Comparison of Monsoonal change of water quality parameters between 1983 and 2008 in a tropical estuary in Northeastern India: role of phytoplankton and community metabolism

Ongoing climate change and anthropogenic activities are introducing stressors that affect the structure and function of coastal ecosystems. This paper focuses on the fluvial fluxes and estuarine transport of nutrients from a tropical river (Mahanadi River) in Northeastern India and compares select nutrient and water quality parameters between 1983 and 2008. This estuary acts as a perennial source of CO₂ with a net annual flux to the atmosphere of about 135 tons. The non‐conservative fluxes showed a net annual removal of 650 and 140 tons of phosphorus and nitrogen from the water column, respectively. Negative biogeochemical feedbacks that decreased the availability of N and P in 2008 relative to 1983 levels indicate major changes in biogeochemical responses towards fluvial fluxes of nutrient.     

The dynamics of the Adriatic Sea ecosystem.: An idealized model study

A biomass-based ecological model is presented here for the Adriatic Sea. The hydrodynamical part is composed of the Princeton Ocean Model, while the European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model describes the biogeochemical processes. An idealized Adriatic basin geometry has been used, with perpetual year seasonal cycle forcing the hydrodynamics and river-borne nutrient input forcing externally the biogeochemical processes. The simulation results highlight the role of the physical processes in determining and maintaining some of the nutrient and phytoplankton biomass distribution and characteristics in the basin. The characteristics of the phytoplankton seasonal cycle have been found to depend, in order of priority, on the river-borne nutrient input and physical horizontal and vertical processes.     

胶州湾水温和营养盐硅限制初级生产力的时空变化

根据作者近年来对胶州湾水域的主要研究结果,分析和探讨了营养盐硅和水温对浮游植物生长的变化和其集群结构的改变影响,研究了胶州湾初级生产力的年变化过程是如何受到营养盐硅和水温的限制和提高,其时间阶段和空间区域又如何划分,营养盐硅和水温如何控制不同阶段和不同区域的初级生产力。同时,揭示了营养盐硅或水温在时间和空间的尺度上如何控制浮游植物生长的变化过程,而且在时空的变化中,2种因子营养盐硅和水温在时间和空间的尺度上又如何有顺序的控制,产生出各种类型的生产力。研究结果展示了在初级生产力的时间和空间的变化过程中,营养盐硅和水温控制初级生产力的不同时间阶段,尤其用增殖能力展示了水温对浮游植物生长的控制时间阶段;营养盐硅控制初级生产力的不同空间区域。从而阐明了营养盐硅和水温控制初级生产力的变化过程。从陆地到海洋界面的硅输送量决定了初级生产力的时间变化过程;硅的生物地球化学过程决定了初级生产力的空间变化过程。因而,营养盐硅和水温是浮游植物生长的“发动机”,营养盐硅是主要的,而水温是次要的。     

Exploring the long-term and interannual variability of biogeochemical variables in coastal areas by means of a data assimilation approach

Dynamic Harmonic Regression (DHR) models are applied here to the investigation of the interannual changes in the trend and seasonality of biogeochemical variables monitored in coastal areas. A DHR model can be regarded as a time-series component model, where the phases and amplitudes of the seasonal component, as well as the trend, are parameters that vary with time, reflecting relevant changes in the evolution of the biogeochemical variables. The model parameters and their confidence bounds are estimated by data assimilation algorithms, i.e. the Kalman filter and the Fixed Interval smoother. The DHR model structure is here identified by a preliminary spectral analysis and a subsequent minimization of the Bayesian Information Criterion, thus avoiding subjective choices of the frequencies in the seasonal component. The methodology was applied to the investigation of the long-term and interannual variability of ammonia, nitrate, orthophosphate and chlorophyll-a monitored monthly in the lagoon of Venice (Italy) during the years 1986–2008. It was found that the long-term evolutions of the biogeochemical variables were characterized by non-linear patterns and by statistically significant changes in the trend. The seasonal cycles of all the variables were characterized by a marked interannual variability. In particular, the changes in the seasonality of chlorophyll and nitrate were significantly related to the changes in the seasonality of water temperature at the study site and of nutrient concentrations in river discharges, respectively. These results indicate that the methodology could be a sound alternative to more traditional approaches for investigating the impacts of changes in environmental and anthropogenic forcings on the evolution of biogeochemical variables in coastal areas.     

Variations of nutrient elements and its effect on ecological environment off the Changjiang estuarine waters

I~IOXThe water off the Changjiang EstUary is one of the ~ areas Of land-sea interactionwith complex current series and convening water masses, such as the Changjiang River diluting water fm the west, the HUangha As "dxed water frn the north as well as the TaiwanWad Current wedging fm the ~theaSt (Mao et al., 1963). TheSe water masses havePtovided rich nutrients for the gtDwth and rep~tion of planktons, leading to the fonnationOf the fishing ~ Off the Changjiang Estuary with active bio…     

A model study on carbon cycle and phytoplankton dynamical processes in the Bohai Sea

The carbon cycle of lower trophic level in the Bohai Sea is studied with a three-dimensional biological and physical coupled model. The influences of the processes (including horizontal advection, river nutrient load, active transport etc. ) on the phytoplankton biomass and its evolution are estimated. The Bohai Sea is a weak sink of the CO2 in the atmosphere. During the cycle, 13.7% of the gross production of the phytoplankton enter the higher trophic level and 76.8 % of it are consumed by the respiration itself. The nutrient reproduction comes mainly from the internal biogeochemical loop and the rem-ineralization is an important mechanism of the nutrient transfer from organic form to inorganic. Horizontal advection decreases the total biomass and the eutrophication in some sea areas. Change in the nutrient load of a river can only adjust the local system near its estuary. Controlling the input of the nutrient, which limits the alga growth, can be very useful in lessening the phytoplankton biomass.     

地球生态系统的营养盐硅补充机制

通过海洋生态系统的结构和功能以及海洋生态系统对大气生态系统和陆地生态系统的影响,根据营养盐硅对浮游植物生长的影响过程和浮游植物的生理特征以及其集群结构的改变特点的研究结果,综合分析了硅的生物地球化学过程,探讨了人类对生态环境的影响和生态环境变化对地球生态系统的影响。提出了地球生态系统的营养盐硅的补充机制:近岸的洪水、大气的沙尘暴和海底的沉积物向缺硅的水体输入大量的硅,即由陆地、大气、海底3种途径将硅输入海水水体中,满足浮游植物的生长的需要,保持海洋中浮游植物生长的动态平衡,促进海洋生态系统的可持续发展。     

Tropical Atlantic variability in a coupled physical–biogeochemical ocean model

A three-dimensional ocean biogeochemical model of the tropical Atlantic Ocean was run for more than half a century (1949–2000) in order to characterize the ocean biogeochemical response to variable forcing over this period. The seasonal cycle in the equatorial upwelling zone agrees reasonably well with observations and other published simulations but underestimates phytoplankton biomass under strong upwelling conditions. Away from the equator, modelled nutrient flux and biological production are maximal in each hemisphere's winter season, and appear to be proximately forced by evaporative cooling and wind stirring rather than by Ekman upwelling. The fraction of the total variance associated with the seasonal cycle is considerably smaller for modelled biogeochemical fields than for sea-surface temperature over this long simulation, and much of the biogeochemical variance is associated with interdecadal changes. The model results suggest that the tropical Atlantic became more productive following the Pacific climate shift of 1976 and remained so until about 1989. Summer surface nitrate concentrations during the 1990s were lower than those in the 1980s. The relationship between the equatorial and off-equatorial regimes may have changed following the 1976 event, with equatorial variability dominating the basin-wide variance patterns after 1976.     

Rosenbrock methods in biogeochemical modelling – A comparison to Runge–Kutta methods and modified Patankar schemes

Modelling biogeochemical processes in the surface ocean is still a difficult task due to the challenge to identify the most convenient integration scheme for the reaction terms. The scheme is expected to deal with the model characteristics of positivity and conservativity as well as with the different time scales involved, which occur e.g., whenever photochemical reactions take place in the water column.This paper presents a numerical comparison of the Rosenbrock methods, ROS3 and ROS4, often used for solving chemical reactions, to the explicit fourth-order Runge–Kutta method and the unconditionally positive modified Patankar schemes. Following their successful application in air chemistry, we here test the hypothesis that the Rosenbrock methods are an optimal choice for marine biogeochemical modelling in terms of efficiency and accuracy. In this study the schemes are compared in terms of runtime and accuracy and are applied to two test cases of different complexity: a zero-dimensional nutrient–phytoplankton–detritus (NPD)-type model and a one-dimensional nutrient–phytoplankton–zooplankton–detritus (NPZD)-type model. Applying the Rosenbrock methods to the simple NPD model shows their advantage over the other applied methods. They give the most accurate results of all solvers, especially for large step sizes, in less computing time due to their semi-implicitness and adaptive step sizing. On the contrary, for the one-dimensional NPZD model problem this is only the case in comparison to the Runge–Kutta solver, while their performance is worse than that of the second-order modified Patankar scheme. They need longer runtimes than the latter ones in order to achieve similarly accurate results. However, the modified Patankar schemes are not conservative if the system reactions contain more than one source compound. Thus, for more complex marine biogeochemical problems, it is recommended to apply the Rosenbrock methods while for simpler models the use of the second-order modified Patankar method is still the best alternative.