Ecology of Phytoplankton, Acartia Tonsa, and Microzooplankton in Apalachicola Bay, Florida Jennifer Nancy Putland
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Ecology of Phytoplankton, Acartia Tonsa, and Microzooplankton in Apalachicola Bay, Florida Jennifer Nancy Putland Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES ECOLOGY OF PHYTOPLANKTON, ACARTIA TONSA, AND MICROZOOPLANKTON IN APALACHICOLA BAY, FLORIDA By JENNIFER NANCY PUTLAND A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Oceanography in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Fall Semester, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Jennifer Nancy Putland All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Jennifer Nancy Putland defended on 28 October 2005. ________________________________ Richard Iverson Professor Directing Dissertation _________________________________ Sherwood Wise Outside Committee Member _________________________________ Nancy Marcus Committee Member _________________________________ Joel Kostka Committee Member _________________________________ Behzad Mortazavi Committee Member Approved: ______________________________________________ William Dewar, Chair, Department of Oceanography The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii Dedicated to my parents, Charles Douglas Sauer 1923-1998 and Joan Agnes Cassells Sauer 1937-2000 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research was supported with a Graduate Research Fellowship from the Estuarine Reserves Division, Office of Ocean and Coastal Resource Management, National Ocean Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a Dissertation Research Grant from the Office of Graduate Studies at FSU. I am very thankful to the Department of Statistics, FSU for providing courteous statistical consultation and the Department of Biology, FSU for use of their epifluorescence microscope. Many other people helped me during the course of this research and I am indebted to them. Dave Oliff masterfully designed and built the penthouses, a.k.a. incubators, to house the plankton for my experiments. They worked beautifully and, to this day, show virtually no signs of corrosion. Alan Michels and Jeff Wilcox were my trench mates at the marine lab and were always gentlemen to me. Together with John Hitron, Mark Daniels, and Dennis Tinsley, they made me feel that the marine lab was my home away from home. Lauren Levi, Jessica Stewart, Jena Wanat, and Kim Wren from the Apalachicola Bay National Research Reserve spent countless hours at-sea with me towing nets and schlepping water to and fro, sometimes in miserable weather. They did a great job and always had great attitudes. They were gold. While they did tease me, I am truly thankful to Cris Oppert and Chris Sedlacek for their help in the lab and discussions about copepods. I am also thankful to Henrieta Dulaiova for her help learning how to use Surfer and Mike Dollhopf for his help learning how to analyze nutrient samples. I value the discussions I had with Lee Edmiston and Graham Lewis. This thesis benefited greatly from their pragmatism. There are several friends I have made during my time as a graduate student at FSU. All of them, with some convincing, have helped me practice my motto, “work hard, play hard” and I thank them (Peter Lazarevich, Lou St. Laurent, Evan Hunter, Heath Mills, Joanna Carter, Chris Hunt, Shawn Steadham, Greg Burke, Raoul Lavin). I also thank Bill Dewar for the bantering which made my days at the OSB so much fun. My committee, Nancy Marcus, Sherwood Wise, Joel Kostka, Behzad Mortazavi, and Richard Iverson, has been incredibly positive and supportive of my work. Their guidance has surely improved my understanding of nature. I am particularly indebted to my advisor, Richard Iverson. He has taught me more than I ever thought I would learn as a graduate student, and not iv just about science. He is a remarkable man and I feel lucky to have spent these last four years as his student. Last, but not least, I would like to thank my husband, Mike Putland. He has been the one- man cheerleading squad for many years now. I am sure that has not been an easy task. After all, the tights alone are enough ;)! Joking aside, I am forever grateful for his patience, his words of wisdom, and that he has always believed in me and my dream. v TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .....................................................................................................................................vi List of Figures....................................................................................................................................vii Abstract..............................................................................................................................................x INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................1 1. TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF PHYTOPLANKTON IN APALACHICOLA BAY, FLORIDA................................................................................................11 Introduction............................................................................................................................11 Materials and Methods...........................................................................................................13 Results....................................................................................................................................17 Discussion..............................................................................................................................21 2. ECOLOGY OF ACARTIA TONSA IN APALACHICOLA BAY, FLORIDA ..............................47 Introduction............................................................................................................................47 Materials and Methods...........................................................................................................49 Results....................................................................................................................................57 Discussion..............................................................................................................................61 3. MICROZOOPLANKTON: MAJOR HERBIVORES IN APALACHICOLA BAY, FLORIDA ..........................................................................................................................................81 Introduction............................................................................................................................81 Materials and Methods...........................................................................................................82 Results....................................................................................................................................87 Discussion..............................................................................................................................90 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................................115 REFERENCES ..................................................................................................................................120 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH .............................................................................................................138 vi LIST OF TABLES 1.1. Well- or partially mixed estuaries that may be classified as Type LNI or HNI .........................30 3.1. Rates of phytoplankton growth and microzooplankton herbivory .............................................97 vii LIST OF FIGURES I.1. Apalachicola Bay, Florida...........................................................................................................9 I.2. Proposed planktonic food web structure in Apalachicola Bay ...................................................10 1.2. A. Average sea surface temperature during sampling in Apalachicola Bay. B. Average monthly river discharge for the Apalachicola River..........................................................................31 1.3. Sea surface salinity (psu) distribution during 2003 and 2004. ...................................................32 1.4. A. Attenuation coefficient (k) and average 1% light depth relative to sea surface salinity during 2003 and 2004. B. Average mixed layer light energy relative to sea surface salinity ...........33 1.5. A. Daily incident light energy relative to sea surface temperature during 2004. B. Average bay DIN (Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen) (+ S.D.) relative to sea surface temperature during 2003 and 2004.............................................................................................................................................34 1.6. A. Dissolved Inorganic Nitrogen (DIN) concentration relative to sea surface salinity. B. Soluble Reactive Phosphate (SRP) concentration relative to sea surface salinity............................. 35 1.7. A. Total chlorophyll concentration during winter relative to sea surface salinity. B. Total chlorophyll concentration during summer relative to sea surface salinity ........................................36 1.8. A. Abundance of picocyanobacteria relative to sea surface salinity during summer. B. Abundance of diatoms >20 µm relative to sea surface salinity during summer.