Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-19T17:54:11.454Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Phytoplankton Production Cycle in Belfast Lough

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

James G. Parker ,
R. S. Rosell  and
K. C. MacOscar
James G. Parker
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries Research Laboratory, 38 Castleroe Road, Coleraine, N. Ireland
R. S. Rosell
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries Research Laboratory, 38 Castleroe Road, Coleraine, N. Ireland
K. C. MacOscar
Affiliation:
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries Research Laboratory, 38 Castleroe Road, Coleraine, N. Ireland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Spring and autumn phytoplankton blooms are characteristic of those temperate marine waters where thermal stratification occurs during the summer months (e.g. Raymont, 1976). However, in well-mixed coastal waters the phytoplankton production cycle may consist of a single peak of growth during the summer (Boalch, Harbour & Butler, 1978; Wafar, Le Carre & Birrien, 1983). In a recent paper, Brander & Dickson (1984) considered evidence from the Irish Sea continuous plankton recorder which reflects the phytoplankton growth cycle largely in the well-mixed areas of the sea. These data suggested a single late peak of production, in contrast to the bimodal blooms which are known to develop in the stratified areas of the Irish Sea (Burrows & Sharpies, 1973; Slinn, 1974). The purpose of the present work was to establish the production cycle for Belfast Lough, which lies adjacent to the North Channel, an area of strong tidal mixing which forms the northerly exit for water from the Irish Sea (Lee & Ramster, 1981; Howarth, 1984). There have been no previous measurements of primary production in Belfast Lough. There was considerable interest in this topic in the early years of this century when the Royal Commission on Sewage Treatment (1908) heard evidence that nutrient inputs from sewers into the lough resulted in excessive growth of the green alga Ulva, which caused a nuisance as it decayed around the shores. Although there have been no recent reports of this phenomenon, several sewage works continue to discharge partially treated effluent to the lough. An aim of this work was therefore to assess the role of anthropogenic nutrient inputs upon phytoplankton growth.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 68 , Issue 4 , November 1988 , pp. 555 - 564
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Boalch, G. T., Harbour, D. S. & Butler, E. I., 1978. Seasonal phytoplankton production in the western English Channel 1964–1974. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 58, 943–953.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brander, K. M. & Dickson, R. R., 1984. An investigation of the low level of fish production in the Irish Sea. Rapport et proces-verbaux des réunions. Conseil permanent international pour l'exploration de la mer, 183, 234–242.Google Scholar
Burrows, E. M. & Sharples, E. J., 1973. Bio-assay of sea water and sludge. In Out of Sight - Out of Mind, vol. 3, pp. 21–43. London: Department of the Environment, H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Foster, P., 1984. Nutrient distributions in the winter regime of the northern Irish Sea. Marine Environmental Research, 13, 81–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hannah, F. J. & Boney, A. D., 1983. Nanophytoplankton in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland: seasonal abundance, carbon fixation and species composition. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology, 67, 105–147.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howarth, M. J., 1984. Currents in the eastern Irish Sea. Oceanography and Marine Biology, an Annual Review, 22, 11–53.Google Scholar
Lee, A. J. & Ramster, J. W., 1981. Atlas of the Sea Around the British Isles. Lowestoft: M.A.F.F.Google Scholar
Parker, J. G., 1982. Structure and chemistry of sediments in Belfast Lough, a semi-enclosed marine bay. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 15, 373–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pingree, R. D., Holligan, P. M., Mardell, G. T. & Head, R. N., 1976. The influence of physical stability on spring, summer and autumn phytoplankton blooms in the Celtic Sea. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 56, 845–873.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Raymont, J. E. G., 1976. Plankton and Productivity in the Oceans. Oxford: Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Schindler, D. W. & Holmgren, S. K., 1971. Primary production and phytoplankton in the Experimental Lakes Area, Northwestern Ontario and other low-carbonate waters, and a liquid scintillation method for determining 14C activity in photosynthesis. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 28, 189–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slinn, D. J., 1974. Water circulation and nutrients in the north-west Irish Sea. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 2, 1–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spencer, C. P., 1975. Plant nutrient and productivity studies. In Out of Sight - Out of Mind, vol. 2, pp. 357–401. London: Department of the Environment, H.M.S.O.Google Scholar
Strickland, J. D. H. & Parsons, T. R., 1972. A practical handbook of seawater analysis, 2nd ed.Bulletin. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, no. 167, 310 pp.Google Scholar
Wafar, M. V. M., Le Carre, D. & Birrien, J. L., 1983. Nutrients and primary production in permanently well-mixed temperate coastal waters. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 17, 431–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar