| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication: | 2006 |
| Authors: | C. R. Anderson, Brzezinski, M. A., Washburn, L., Kudela, R. |
| Journal: | Marine Ecology-Progress Series |
| Volume: | 327 |
| Pagination: | 119-133 |
| Keywords: | abundance, Bacillariophyceae, bio-physical coupling, cyclonic eddy, diatom pseudonitzschia-australis, domoic acid, domoic acid production, marine diatoms, multiseries, neurotoxin, phytoplankton dynamics, Pseudo-nitzschia australis, pseudo-nitzschia spp., silicate limitation, southern california bight, upwelling, washington coast |
| Abstract: | During May 2003, a toxigenic bloom of the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia australis occurred in the Santa Barbara Channel (SBC), California, that was linked to a marine mammal mortality event in the region. Satellite imagery revealed the presence of the bloom prior to a period of strong, spring upwelling along the continental shelf of the SBC. Following upwelling the bloom increased in areal extent to cover most of the SBC. P. australis abundance ranged from 0.4 x 10(5) to 2 x 10(6) cells l(-1) with particulate domoic acid (DA) concentrations between 32 and 1684 ng l(-1). Significant negative correlations between silicic acid, Si(OH)(4):NO3- and Si(OH)(4):PO43- ratios and particulate DA suggest that the bloom may have been experiencing Si limitation. High cell abundance and the highest levels of cellular DA (0.14 to 2.1 pg cell(-1)) were associated with a cyclonic eddy in the western end of the SBC. Cyclonic eddies within the SBC are known to be convergent, and may thus have concentrated P. australis cells within this feature. Propagation of the eddy transported the bloom to the west, indicating that coherent circulation features may help predict the fate of harmful algal blooms in coastal systems. |
| URL: | <Go to ISI>://000245319100011 |