Freshwater phytoplankton in the low salinity region of the River Tamar estuary

Abstract

An investigation was made into the fate of freshwater algae in the Tamar estuary, south-west England, to examine the hypothesis that oxygen minima, observed at the freshwater-brackish water interface, were a consequence of mass mortality of freshwater algae and the subsequent oxidative degradation of the lysed cells by bacteria. The quantity and species composition of algae in the river and estuary were determined by measurements of chlorophyll and cell numbers. Phytoplankton numbers were transformed into biomass by measuring the volume of the cells and calculating the carbon content. Salinity, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, pH and temperature were also recorded. The size of the upper estuarine community was inversely related to freshwater input. During the summer months, very large populations of freshwater algae (up to 8 mg carbon l −1) were observed between 0 and 8‰ salinity, after long periods of low freshwater input. This population was completely dominated by the diatom Cyclotella atomus and was very stable with respect to changing tides, remaining in the estuary until river flow increased. Death of these algae only occurred at salinities greater than 8‰ and oxygen minima were not observed. The oxygen minima were more closely associated with the turbidity maxima than with algal mortality. There is some evidence that the oxygen depletion may be due to decreased photosynthesis as a result of the reduced light availability at the turbidity maxima.