Coastal upwelling linked to toxic Pseudo-nitzschia australis blooms in Los Angeles coastal waters, 2005-2007
Type
ArticleAuthors
Schnetzer, AstridJones, Burton

Schaffner, Rebecca A.
Cetinić, Ivona
Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth
Miller, Peter E.
Seubert, Erica L.
Caron, David A.
KAUST Department
Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) DivisionMarine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Date
2013-06-10Online Publication Date
2013-06-10Print Publication Date
2013-09-01Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/562810
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Harmful algal blooms dominated by the diatom Pseudo-nitzschia spp. have become a perennial but variable event within surface waters near the greater Los Angeles area. Toxic blooms during spring seasons from 2005 to 2007 varied strongly in their overall toxicity and duration. Differences in bloom dynamics were linked to differences in storm-induced river discharge following episodic rain events and coastal upwelling, both major coastal processes that led to the injection of nutrients into coastal surface waters. Heavy river runoff during early 2005, a record-rainfall year, favored a phytoplankton community mainly comprised of algal taxa other than Pseudo-nitzschia. The spring bloom during 2005 was associated with low domoic acid surface concentrations and minor contributions of (mainly) P. delicatissima to the diatom assemblage. In contrast, highly toxic P. australis-dominated blooms during spring seasons of 2006 and 2007 were linked to strong upwelling events. River discharge quotas in 2006 and 2007, in contrast to 2005, fell well below annual averages for the region. Surface toxin levels were linked to colder, more saline (i.e. upwelled) water over the 3-year study, but no such consistent relationship between domoic acid levels and other physiochemical parameters, such as macronutrient concentrations or nutrient ratios, was observed. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.Citation
Schnetzer, A., Jones, B. H., Schaffner, R. A., Cetinic, I., Fitzpatrick, E., Miller, P. E., … Caron, D. A. (2013). Coastal upwelling linked to toxic Pseudo-nitzschia australis blooms in Los Angeles coastal waters, 2005–2007. Journal of Plankton Research, 35(5), 1080–1092. doi:10.1093/plankt/fbt051Sponsors
This research was supported by grants from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Monitoring and Event Response for Harmful Algal Blooms (MERHAB) program MERHAB NA05NO54781228 and Sea Grant NA06OAR4170012) awarded to DC and AS, and Environmental Protection Agency (RD-83170501) awarded to DC.Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)Journal
Journal of Plankton Researchae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1093/plankt/fbt051