Barnegat Bay Phytoplankton Year 3 : Phytoplankton Reference Communities and Index of Biotic Integrity Final Report
Date
2015-07
Date Removed
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Publisher
Trenton, N.J. : New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Division of Science, Research and Environmental Health
Abstract
Barnegat Bay-Little Egg Harbor (BB-LEH) is very susceptible to human-induced eutrophication
due to its shallow depth, relatively long flushing time and highly developed surrounding
watershed. The Estuary has been classified as a highly eutrophic system (Nixon 1995, Bricker et
al. 2007), experiencing episodic recurrences of brown tides and other microalgal blooms, loss of
submerged aquatic vegetation, and decline of hard clam stock and harvest. We carried out a three-year research on the phytoplankton community in BB-LEH estuary in coordination with New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP)’s Bureau of Marine Monitoring from 2012 to 2015. In the first two years of study we investigated phytoplankton community in BB-LEH from August 2011 to August 2013, characterized species composition and spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton, including bloom patterns, dominant species succession, and occurrence of Harmful Algal Bloom (HABs) species. In addition, multivariate analyses were conducted to understand the temporal changes of phytoplankton between Year-one and Year-two, and the relationship between the phytoplankton changes and environmental conditions. More details can be found in the project reports (Ren 2013, 2015).
Description
Cover page has February, 2016.
Keywords
New Jersey, Algal blooms - New Jersey - Barnegat Bay, Phytoplankton