Abstract
A dense dinoflagellate bloom of Gyrodinium aureolum Hulburt in a shallow temperate zone estuary was monitored during the summers of 1982 and 1983. The bloom was typically extremely localized, its densest part exceeding 1000μg chlorophyll a liter-1 (2x104 cells ml-1). The bloom began at temperatures between 24.5° and 27°C, existed at as high as 30°C and terminated when water temperature dropped to between 19° and 22°C. The highest specific growth rate measured was 0.90d-1 (1.3 divisions d-1) and near the termination of the bloom decreased to 0.28d-1 (0.4 divisions d-1). A diel vertical migration of the bloom was observed. A box model analysis, based on division rates, vertical migration and water circulation patterns, indicated that the bloom must move downward at the estuary mouth to maintain itself in the estuary, either by means of a convergence system or by downward swimming. High growth rate, low grazing pressure, and a stratified water column are proposed to stimulate bloom formation. Decreasing growth rate appeared to reduce the intensity of the bloom and finally allowed its disappearance by estuarine flushing and mixing.
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Contribution No.472 of the Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York at Stony Brook; Stony Brook, New York 11794, USA
Communicated by J. M. Shick, Orono
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Chang, J., Carpenter, E.J. Blooms of the dinoflagellate Gyrodinium aureolum in a Long Island estuary:. Mar. Biol. 89, 83–93 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392880
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00392880