Modeling the Factors Controlling Phytoplankton in the St. Louis Bay Estuary, Mississippi and Evaluating Estuarine Responses to Nutrient Load Modifications

Autor: James B. Stribling, René A. Camacho, Lei Zheng, Michael J. Paul, Brian Watson, James L. Martin
Rok vydání: 2015
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Environmental Engineering. 141
ISSN: 1943-7870
0733-9372
Popis: Several biochemical and physical factors regulate phytoplankton primary productivity and algal bloom events in estuarine environments. Some of the most important factors include nitrogen, phosphorus and silica availability, light availability, and estuarine flushing potential. A better understanding of these processes is necessary to support sound management strategies that take into account the hydrological, hydraulic, and biochemical connectivity between estuaries and their watersheds. In this paper the factors controlling phytoplankton productivity in a tributary estuary of the northern Gulf of Mexico, the St. Louis Bay estuary, Mississippi, and the system responses to nutrient load alterations are studied. For this purpose a coupled hydrodynamic and water quality model based on U.S. EPA computer models was implemented. The writers present an evaluation of the model predictive capacity, and its implementation to study the processes controlling phytoplankton dynamics, nutrient cycling, and oxyge...
Databáze: OpenAIRE