The use of monitoring data for identifying factors influencing phytoplankton bloom dynamics in the eutrophic Taw Estuary, SW England

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin Vol. 58; no. 7; pp. 1007 - 1015
• Main Authors: Maier, Gerald, Glegg, Gillian A., Tappin, Alan D., Worsfold, Paul J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-07-2009; Elsevier
• Subjects: Ammonia; Animal, plant and microbial ecology; Applied ecology; Biological and medical sciences; Brackish; Chlorophyll - analysis; Cluster Analysis; Data mining; Ecosystem; Ecotoxicology, biological effects of pollution; England; Environmental Monitoring; Eutrophication; Eutrophication - physiology; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Marine and brackish environment; Nitrate; Phytoplankton - growth & development; Regression Analysis; Salinity; Seawater; Taw Estuary; Time Factors; United Kingdom; England; United Kingdom; Great Britain; Europe; ANE, British Isles, England; ANE, British Isles, Wales; ANE, British Isles, England, Devon, Taw Estuary; Ammonia; United Kingdom; Nitrate; Taw Estuary; Data mining; Eutrophication; Chlorophyll; Brackish water environment; Growth; Estuaries; Trophic status; Vegetation dynamics; Concentration measurement; Aquatic environment; Plankton; Bloom; Phytoplankton; Environmental monitoring
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2009.02.014

Using the Taw Estuary as an example, data routinely collected by the Environment Agency for England and Wales over the period 1990–2004 were interrogated to identify the drivers of excessive algal growth. The estuary was highly productive with chlorophyll concentrations regularly exceeding 100
μg
L
−1, mostly during periods of low freshwater input from the River Taw when estuarine water residence times were longest. However, algal growth in mid estuary was often inhibited by ammonia inputs from the adjacent sewage treatment works. The reported approach demonstrates the value of applying conventional statistical analyses in a structured way to existing monitoring data and is recommended as a useful tool for the rapid assessment of eutrophication. However, future estuarine monitoring should include the collection of dissolved organic nutrient data and targeted high temporal resolution data because the drivers of eutrophication are complex and often very specific to a particular estuary.