An assessment of water quality and primary productivity in Perdido Bay, a Northern Gulf of Mexico Estuary

Abstract

Perdido Bay is a shallow estuarine system of approximately 130 km(2) with three major freshwater inputs. On a seasonal basis the productivity and chlorophyll a concentration of phytoplankton in Perdido Bay are controlled by temperature. One input, Eleven Mile Creek, is influenced by a paper mill discharge. Eleven Mile Creek exhibits high levels of light attenuation, high concentrations of dissolved nutrients, and low rates of carbon fixation that are significantly different from the other inputs or areas of Perdido Bay and productivity in Eleven Mile Creek is light limited. Upper Perdido Bay had slightly elevated concentrations of dissolved nutrients which correlate with significantly higher rates of carbon fixation and phytoplankton biomass. Nutrients and color from Eleven Mile Creck are diluted by the Perdido River inflow, restricting nutrient and light limitations to the area at the mouth of Eleven Mile Creek.