Skip Navigation



JPR Advance Access published online on July 26, 2006
Journal of Plankton Research, doi:10.1093/plankt/fbl027
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
28/10/891    most recent
fbl027v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Lonsdale, D. J.
Right arrow Articles by Taylor, G. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow Articles by Lonsdale, D. J.
Right arrow Articles by Taylor, G. T.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org
Received April 7, 2006
Accepted July 24, 2006

Article

Contrasting microplanktonic composition and food web structure in two coastal embayments (Long Island, New York, USA)

Darcy J. Lonsdale 1 *, Dianne I. Greenfield 2, Elizabeth M. Hillebrand 1, Robert Nuzzi 3, and Gordon T. Taylor 1

1 Marine Sciences Research Center, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5000
2 Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute, 7700 Sandholdt Road, Moss Landing, CA 95039
3 Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Office of Ecology, Yaphank, NY 11980

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
Darcy J. Lonsdale, E-mail: dlonsdale{at}notes.cc.sunysb.edu


  Abstract

The neighboring Great South Bay (GSB) and Peconic Bay (PB) of Long Island, USA, were observed to support distinctive microplanktonic communities and trophic structure over most of an annual cycle (1998-1999). Trophic structure analyses were based on fifteen months of sampling for inorganic and organic nutrients, size-fractionated chlorophyll a, and nanoplankton and microplankton abundances. While dissolved inorganic nitrogen inventories were not demonstrably different between bays, dissolved organic carbon and nitrogen were significantly higher in GSB than in PB and covaried with chlorophyll a concentrations. Likewise, total biomasses (µg C L-1) and mean seasonal biomass ratios of heterotrophic nanoplankton to autotrophic nanoplankton were substantially higher in GSB (> 0.30) than in the PB (< 0. 15) from spring to autumn 1998. The higher nanoflagellate biomass in GSB appears to have been indirectly supported by elevated concentrations of dissolved organic matter. During winter and spring 1999, biomass ratios in GSB dropped to levels similar to those in PB, and coincided with a clear water event in GSB that may have been caused by increased bivalve suspension-feeding. Even though these bays share similar broad-scale oceanographic/hydrogeologic settings and a common assortment of planktonic taxa, the structure and function of their planktonic communities were fundamentally distinct.

Communicating Editor: KJ Flynn


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 J PLANKTON RESHome page
L. J. Sullivan and D. J. Gifford
Growth and feeding rates of the newly hatched larval ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi A. Agassiz (Ctenophora, Lobata)
J. Plankton Res., November 1, 2007; 29(11): 949 - 965.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.