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Chesapeake Bay nutrient and plankton dynamics. 1. Bacterial biomass and production during spring tidal destratification in the York River, Virginia, estuary 1, 2
Author(s) -
Ducklow Hugh W.
Publication year - 1982
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1982.27.4.0651
Subject(s) - salinity , estuary , biomass (ecology) , environmental science , oceanography , phytoplankton , water column , plankton , bay , microbial food web , nutrient , hydrology (agriculture) , zoology , ecology , biology , geology , geotechnical engineering
Bacterial abundance, biomass, and [ 3 H]thymidine incorporation rates were studied during spring tidal destratification of the York River, Virginia, estuary. Monthly high spring tides cause salinity destratification in the moderately stratified estuary, which oscillates between stratified (top‐to‐bottom salinity difference >1‰) and vertically homogeneous (salinity difference <1‰) conditions on a time scale of 1–10 days. Bacterial abundance and carbon biomass ranged from 1 to 8 × 10 9 cells · liter’ and 20 to 100 µ g C · liter −1 . Thymidine incorporation into cold TCA‐insoluble fractions ranged from 1 to 10 × 10 −9 mol · liter 1 · d −1 ; bacterial carbon production rates and specific growth rates were estimated at 7–75 µ g C· liter −1 · d −1 and 0.2–1.1 · d −1 . Biomass increased steadily during the destratification process while production remained constant. Production then increased twofold to threefold in 12 h during the period of maximum water‐column homogeneity. Increased vertical mixing and possibly stimulation of phytoplankton production are suggested as the major causes of this bacterial response to destratification.