Nutrient limitation of phytoplankton biomass in a brackish water bay highly influenced by river discharge

Abstract

Laboratory nutrient enrichment experiments ( n=30) with the indigenous phytoplankton community from the brackish (mean salinity 16‰) Laholm Bay, south-east Kattegat, were performed during the period August 1981 to August 1983. The results show that nitrogen is the most limiting nutrient for potential phytoplankton biomass formation, despite a high input of inorganic nitrogen to the bay from rivers draining heavily fertilized agricultural areas. Phosphorus, silica, trace metal or chelator (EDTA) additions to Laholm Bay phytoplankton had no significant effect on biomass yield.