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2004.Phlipsej.Pdf Journal of Coastal Research SI 45 93-109 West Patm Beach, Florida Fall 2004 A Comparison of Water Quality and Hydrodynamic Characteristics of the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve and the Indian River Lagoon of Florida*" Edward J. Phlips'^'t, Natalie Lovev, Susan Badylakt, Phyllis Hansent, Jean Lockwoodt, Chandy V. Johnij:, and Richard GIeeson§ tDepartment of F'iaheries and iSt. Johns River Water §Guana Tolomato Matanzas Aquatic Sciences Management District National Estuarine University of Florida Palatka, FL 32177, U.S.A. Research Reserve Gainesville, FL 32653, Marineland, FL 32080, U.S.A. U.S.A. ABSTRACTI PHLIPS, E.J,; LOVE, N; BADYLAK, S.; HANSEN. P.; LOCKWOOD, J.; JOHN, C.V.. and GLEESON, R,. 2004. A Comparison of Water Quality and Hydrodynainii- Charairteristits nf the Guana TolomaW Matanzas National Estuarine Research Rfservi? and the Indian River I.agonn of Florida. Journal nfConslat Research, .SI(45t. 93-109. West Palm Beach (Klorida). ISSN 0749-U20H. The lagoons that border the evmt coast of the Florida peninxuia pmvide an opportunity to study waU'r chemiBtry and phytoplanktiin oharacteristioB over a wide range of water residence and nutrient load con- ditions. This article include.'! the results of a 2-year study of eight study sites. The northern half of the Hampling range included four saniplinR Bites within the newly estahlished Guana Tiil'imatu Matania.'' Na- tional EHtuarine Research Reserve. The southern half of the sampling range consisted of four study sites distrihuted in ecologically disUntt -Suh-hasins of the Indian River Lagoim. The Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Kwtuarine Keaearch Reserve and Indian Kiver La^joon include estuaries with water residence times ranging from days to months and watersheds with widely differing nutrient load characteristics. The results of this study revealed wide temporal and spatial variability of physical and chemical characteristics. Mean salinities for the study period ranged from 9.7 to 'il.b'h over the eight sites. Mean orthophosphate and total phnuphiiruti rancentrations ranged from 0.26 tji 1.5,^ \M and 1.45 to 3.00 |iM, respectively. Mean dissolved inorganic nitrogen and total nitrogen concentrations ranged from 3.14 to 9.77 [iM and 26.43 to 71,14 [iM, respectively. Individual phytojjlankton standing crops, in terms of chlorophyll a concentrations, ranged from less than 1 |ig L ' to more than 60 p.g L '. Comparisons of tht relationships between nutrient and phytDplHnktim .standing trops at the eight study sites indicated that water residence times and nutrient loads provided impiirtant insights into the hasis for oheerved temporal and spatial patterns of variability. Indices for water residence time and nutrient liiad were determined for each Hit*. A combination of the character of watershed inputs and residence time was most useful in interpreting patterns of nutrient concentrations, whereas water re.sidence time appeared to he the pre-eminent factor dictating phytoplank- tiin standing crop potential among the eight study sites. ADDITIONAI. INDEX WORDS: Tdiimatn Hiivr. Guana ffiirr, Ill, chlorophyll ii. phosphorun. nilmgen, phyloptanktiin. umter residence lime, nutrient load. INTRODUCTION creasingly acute (SMAYDA, 1989; HALLEGRAEFF, During the last century, concerns about the im- 1993; NIXON, 1995; RICHARDBON and JORGKNSEN, pacts of human activity on the integrity and sus- 1996; CLOERN, 2001). These concerns have focused tainability of coastal ecosystems have become in- attention on the need to develop the capability to forecast or predict the effects of environmental change on the structure and function of aquatic * Corresponding author: E-mnil: [email protected] * This research was supported by the Florida Agricultural ecosystems. In freshwater environments, signifi- Experiment Station and grants from the St. Johns Riiier Wa- cant progress has been made in modeling the re- ter Management District, tlie Guana Tohniato Matanzas lationships between key factors, such as nutrient National Estuarine Research Reserve, and tlie Florida Wild- load and biological responses, including algal bio- life ami Conservation Commission. This paper was approivd. for publication as Journal Series No. R-10484, part of the. masK (Voi.i-KNWKiDER, 1976). Defining these re- Florida Agricultural Experiment Station. lationships in marine ecosystems has proven to be 94 Phlips et al. more elusive ICLOERN, 2001), One of the challeng- extends from near the city of Marineland, north to es facing marine researchers in modeling efforts is the Tolomato River, beyond the city of St. Augus- the highly dynamic nature of biogeophysical con- tine (Figure 1). The northern-most sampling site (iitions in estuaries. The ability to predict the out- was at Pine Island within a region fed by a marsh come of environmental change depends on the watershed. The next site to the south was located ability to define key driving factors in individual at the mouth of the San Sebastian River just south ecosystems, such as water residence times, water- of the city of St. Augustine and is within 2 kilo- shed inputs, and the sensitivities of biological com- meters of the St. Augustine Inlet, leading to the munities to change. The National Estuarine Re- Atlantic Ocean. The third site was located within search Reserve and Florida's Surface Water Im- 2 kilometers of the Matanzas Inlet, just north of provement and Management programs serve as the city of Marineland. The final site was located platforms from which to investigate these driving within the marsh-fed Pellicer Creek that feeds into factors within the context of the broad range of the coastal lagoon near Marineland, conditions represented by the participating orga- The IRL is located along the central east coast nizations. of Florida and extends from Jupiter Inlet in south The lagoonal estuaries that border the east coast Florida to Titusville in central Florida. The lagoon of the Florida peninsula provide an opportunity to is characterized by a number of ecologically dis- examine water column characteristics over a wide tinct basins that differ considerably in terms of hy- range of hydrodynamic conditions and watershed drodynamic, chemical, and biological characteris- inputs of freshwater and nutrients. The Florida tics IKLEPPEL, 1996; SHENG, PKENE, and Lui, peninsula is also of biogeographical interest be- 1990; SMITH, 1993). Based largely on hydrody- cause it lies within the transition from the tropical namic considerations, the IRL has been subdivided environment of the Florida Keys to the warm tem- into distinct regions (KI-KPPKI., 1996), which we perate habitats of the Carolina coast. In this study, used to select the locations of the four study sites we compared the temporal and spatial patterns of (Figure II. These four sites represent a range of macronutrient concentrations and phytoplankton water residence time characteristics, from an area standing crop at eight study sites located along the with water residence times of up to a year at the north and north-central east coast of Florida (Fig- northern-most site near the city of Titusville, to ure 1). The northern half of the sampling range residence times on the order of days at the site included four study sites within the newly estab- near the city of Roseland less than 2 kilometers lished Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estu- from the Sebastian Inlet. The third site was locat- arine Research Reserve (GTMNERR). The south- ed in the north-central region of the IRL just north em half of the sampling range consisted of four of Melbourne, and the fourth site was located in study sites distributed in ecologically distinct sub- the south-centra! region near the city of Vero, basins within the Indian River Lagoon IIRL), The GTMNERR and IRL include estuaries with water residence times ranging from less than a day to Field Procedures more than a year and watersheds with differing nutrient load characteristics (SIGL'A and TWEE- Water was collected at the eight sampling sites DALE, 20031, The central objective of this study on a monthly basis within 3 hours of slack low tide. was to determine the responsiveness of phyto- The study period was from May 2002 through Au- plankton standing crops to temporal changes and gust 2003. Dissolved oxygen (in milligrams liter '), regional differences in nutrient load within the salinity, and temperature (in degrees centigrade) context of key hydrodynamic considerations, in- were measured with a Hydrolab Quanta Environ- cluding water residence time and meteorological mental Multi-Probe (Hydrolab Corporation, Aus- trends. tin, TX). Water samples were collected with a wa- ter column integrating tube that captures water from the surface to within 0.1 meters of the bot- METHODS tom, Aliquots of sampled water were split off for determination of chlorophyll a, color, total phos- Study Site Descriptions phorus (TP), soluble reactive phosphorus, total ni- The GTMNERR is located along the northeast- trogen (TN), nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium. Sam- ern coast of Florida and within the barrier islands ples for chlorophyll a analysis were filtered on site that define the associated estuaries. The reserve (Gelman A/E glass fiber filters. Fisher Scientific, Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No, 45, 2004 Characteristics of the Cuana Tolnmato Matanzaa NERR and Indian River Lagoon GTMNERR Pine Island 4 St. Cit>'of J^-^, Augustine St. Augustiire' Inlet San Sebastian'ii' Atlantic Ocean Fort Matanzas Matanzas Inlet Florida Pellicer Creek T ' IRL u Hi ^ \ V s
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