Marine Science Faculty Publications
Environmental Control of the Dominant Phytoplankton in the Cariaco Basin: a Hierarchical Bayesian Approach
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2013
Keywords
Bayesian analysis, bottom-up control, community structure, environmental forcing, phytoplankton abundance
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1080/17451000.2012.731693
Abstract
We develop a hierarchical Bayesian model linking the abundance of individual phytoplankton species with over a decade (1995-2011) of environmental data from the Cariaco Ocean Time Series Program in the Cariaco Basin, Venezuela, to characterize how phytoplankton respond to environmental forcing. Temperature, salinity, irradiance, and macronutrient concentrations account for 39% of the variation in log cell abundance across 67 species. Individual phytoplankton taxa varied widely in their response to these environmental variables. A principal component analysis of the environmental response profiles clearly distinguishes the responses of diatoms and dinoflagellates to environmental forcing. Phytoplankton abundance primarily varied with temperature, pH, and irradiance, with salinity and macronutrient concentrations acting as secondary drivers. In the aggregate, our results demonstrate that environmental changes, whether short-term or a result of climate change, should be expected to have dramatic consequences on the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton communities.
Citation / Publisher Attribution
Marine Biology Research, v. 9, issue 3, p. 247-261
Scholar Commons Citation
Mutshinda, C. M.; Troccoli-Ghinaglia, L.; Finkel, Z. V.; Muller-Karger, Frank E.; and Irwin, A. J., "Environmental Control of the Dominant Phytoplankton in the Cariaco Basin: a Hierarchical Bayesian Approach" (2013). Marine Science Faculty Publications. 1061.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/msc_facpub/1061
