Graduation Year
2008
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree
Ph.D.
Degree Granting Department
Marine Science
Major Professor
John J. Walsh, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Gabriel A. Vargo, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Kent A. Fanning, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Robert H. Weisberg, Ph.D.
Committee Member
Richard A. Jahnke, Ph.D.
Keywords
Marine Ecology, Diatoms, Numerical Modeling, Nutrient Cycles, Phytoplankton
Abstract
In some continental shelf sediments integrated benthic microalgal biomass is greater than the integrated phytoplankton biomass in the overlying water column. In addition, benthic microalgae may account for up to 10% of the primary production responsible for the coastal fishery yield of the eastern United States.
A three-dimensional model of the eastern Gulf of Mexico examines the effects of water-column nutrient sources on the growth of benthic microalgae. To parameterize the exchange of nutrients across the sediment/water interface in these permeable sediments, a non-local exchange submodel was constructed and tested within the framework of the model's grid.
Based on the results of the three dimensional simulations, the growth of benthic microalgae from water-column nutrients is highly dependent on the light limitation of overlying phytoplankton. When light is available to phytoplankton in high enough quantities, water-column nutrients are used up before reaching the sediments. When the overlying phytoplankton are light limited, nutrients are able to reach the sediments where the shade adapted benthic microalgae can grow.
Scholar Commons Citation
Darrow, Brian P., "Effects of Nutrients From the Water Column on the Growth of Benthic Microalgae in Permeable Sediments" (2007). USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/etd/200
