Decadal changes in nutrient fluxes and environmental effects in the Jiulong River Estuary
Journal
Marine Pollution Bulletin
Journal Volume
124
Journal Issue
2
Pages
871-877
Date Issued
2017
Author(s)
Abstract
Estuaries are areas of both freshwater and seawater that are partially enclosed with contact to the open sea and a flow of fresh water. Although the Jiulong River Estuary has a relatively small catchment, this area was found to exhibit high nutrient fluxes. The nutrient fluxes showed obvious fluctuations for different years. The Jiulong River Estuary was predominantly P-limited, and was slowly moving towards higher DIN:DIP and DSi:DIP ratios as the nitrate concentrations increased. The high nutrient fluxes into the estuary may affect estuarine ecosystems by the alteration of DO concentrations in bottom waters, causing harm to benthic fauna due to a lack of oxygen, triggering algal blooms. Additionally, the Jiulong River Estuary was slowly moving towards lower DSi:DIN and DSi:DIP ratios along with the change of time scales, which caused nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth as P and Si levels decreased and became more limiting. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Subjects
Eutrophication; Jiulong River Estuary; Nutrient fluxes; Nutrient limitation
Other Subjects
Catchments; Ecosystems; Eutrophication; Nutrients; River pollution; Rivers; Water; Benthic faunas; DO concentration; Jiulong River Estuary; Nitrate concentration; Nutrient fluxes; Nutrient limitations; Phytoplankton growth; Small catchment; Estuaries; fresh water; nitrate; oxygen; phosphorus; sea water; silicon; nitric acid derivative; benthic fauna; concentration (composition); environmental effect; estuary; eutrophication; nitrate; nutrient; phosphorus; silver; algal growth; Article; benthic fauna; China; concentration (parameters); environmental impact; environmental parameters; estuary; geographic distribution; nutrient flux; phytoplankton; river ecosystem; salinity; trend study; chemistry; climate; ecosystem; environmental monitoring; estuary; eutrophication; growth, development and aging; river; sea; China; Fujian; Jiulong Estuary; algae; China; Climate; Ecosystem; Environmental Monitoring; Estuaries; Eutrophication; Nitrates; Oceans and Seas; Phytoplankton; Rivers; Seawater
Type
journal article