Abstract
The large quattities of marine phytoplankton passing through the cooling systems of two Southern California coastal power plants were found to be greatly reduced in numbers (41.7%) and in volume (33.7%). The biomass killed from June, 1972 to May, 1973 amounted to approximately 1,700 tons of organic carbon. Phytoplankton mortalities were most pronounced from October to December when intake waters of 17° to 20°C were subjected to temperature elevations of 9 to 11C°, and were lowest from January to March when cooler ambient temperatures prevailed. There was no apparent reduction in phytoplankton stocks when the intake water was cooler than 15°C. Surviving cells in 25° and 26.5°C effluent waters were growing three times faster than influent populations, which suggests that power-plant effects on phytoplankton stocks are often short-lived. However, entrainment effects appear very disruptive, in changing the structure of phytoplankton communities and in constantly reducing species diversity (H′). Passage through the condenser tubes affected algal species differentially, killing diatoms in greater numbers (45.7%) than dinoflagellates (32.8%), and reinforcing the dominance of the two major species, Asterionella japonica and Gonyaulax polyedra, that were the most tolerant. The severity of the impact appears to be controlled by two interacting factors: intake water-temperature and magnitude of temperature increase. On this basis, use by coastal power plants of deep-sea water for cooling is strongly advocated.
Similar content being viewed by others
Literature Cited
Adams, J.R.: Ecological investigations around some thermal power stations in California tidal waters. Chesapeake Sci. 10, 145–154 (1969)
—, H.J. Gormly and M.J. Doyle, Jr.: Thermal investigations in California, Mar. Pollut. Bull. 1 (9), 140–142 (1970)
Allen, W.E.: Review of five years of studies on phytoplankton at southern California piers, 1920–1924, inclusive. Bull. Scripps Instn Oceanogr. tech. Ser. 1, 357–401 (1928)
—: Twenty years' statistical studies of marine plankton dinoflagellates of southern California. Am. Midl. Nat. 26, 603–635 (1941)
Aubert, M.: Télémédiateurs chimiques et équilibre biologique océaique. Théorie générale. Revue int. Océanogr. méd. 21, 5–16 (1971)
Balech, E.: The changes in the phytoplankton population off the California coast. Calif. coop. ocean. Fish. invest. rep. 7, 127–132 (1960)
Barnett, P.R.O.: Effects of warm water effluents from power stations on marine life. Proc. R. Soc. (Ser. B) 180, 497–509 (1972)
Bienfang, P.: Taking the pollution out of waste heat. New Scient. 51, 456–457 (1971)
Brook, A.J. and A.L. Baker: Chlorination at power plants: impact on phytoplankton productivity. Science, N.Y. 176, 1414–1415 (1972)
Cairns, J., Jr. and G.R. Lanza: The effects of heated waste water on some microorganisms. Bull. Va polytech. Inst. Engng Exp. Stn 48, 1–101 (1972)
Coutant, C.C.: Biological aspects of thermal pollution. I. Entrainment and discharge canal effects. CRC critical Rev. envir. Control 1, 341–381 (1970)
—: Thermal pollution. Biological effects. J. Wat. Pollut. Control Fed. 43, 1292–1334 (1971a)
—: Effects on organisms of entrainment in cooling water: steps toward predictability. Nucl. Saf. 12, 600–607 (1971b)
— and C.P. Goodyear: Thermal effects. J. Wat. Pollut. Control Fed. 44, 1250–1294 (1972)
Cupp, E.E.: Marine plankton diatoms of the west coast of North America. Bull. Scripps Instn Oceanogr. (New Ser.) 5, 1–238 (1943)
Environmental Quality Analysts, Inc. and Marine Biological Consultants, Inc.: Alamitos Generating Station—Haynes Generating Station. Thermal effect study. Final summary report, 121 pp. Los Angeles: Department of Water and Power 1973
Eppley, R.W.: Temperature and phytoplankton growth in the sea. Fish. Bull. U.S. 70, 1063–1085 (1972)
—, F.M.H. Reid and J.D.H. Strickland: Estimates of phytoplankton crop size, growth rate, and primary production. In: The ecology of the plankton off La Jolla, California, in the period April through September, 1967, pp 33–42. Ed. by J.D.H. Strickland. Berkeley: University of California Press 1970
Fournier, R.O.: Studies on pigmented microorganisms from aphotic marine environments. II. North Atlantic distribution. Limnol. Oceanogr. 16, 952–961 (1971)
Fox, J.L. and M.S. Moyer: Some effects of a power plant on marine microbiota. Chesapeake Sci. 14, 1–10 (1973)
Frost, B.W.: Effects of size and concentration of food particles on the feeding behavior of the marine planktonic copepod Calanus pacificus. Limnol. Oceanogr. 17, 805–815 (1972)
Hamilton, D.H., Jr., D.A. Flemer, C.W. Keefe and J.A. Mihursky: Power plants: effects of chlorination on estuarine primary production. Science, N.Y. 169, 197–198 (1970)
Hardin, G.: The competitive exclusion principle. Science, N.Y. 131, 1292–1298 (1960)
Hirayama, K. and R. Hirano: Influences of high temperature and residual chlorine on marine phytoplankton. Mar. Biol. 7, 205–213 (1970)
Isaacs, J.D. and W.R. Schmitt: Stimulation of marine productivity with waste heat and mechanical power. J. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer 33, 20–29 (1969)
Kerr, J.E.: Studies on fish preservation at the Contra Cosa steam plant of Pacific Gas and Electric Company. Calif. Fish Game Fish. Bull. 92, 1–66 (1953)
Kovala, T.E. and J.D. Larrance: Computation of phytoplankton cell numbers, cell volume, cell surface and plasma volume per liter from microscopical counts. Spec. Rep. Dep. Oceanogr. Univ. Wash. 38, 1–21 (1966)
Loeblich, A.R., Jr. and A.R. Loeblich III: Index to the genera, subgenera, and sections of the Pyrrhophyta. Stud. trop. Oceanogr. Miami 3, 1–94 (1966)
Lund, J.W.G., C. Kipling and E.D. Le Cren: The inverted microscope method of estimating algal numbers and the statistical basis of estimations by counting. Hydrobiologia 11, 143–170 (1958)
Mayer, A.G.: The effects of temperature upon tropical marine animals. Pap. Tortugas Lab. 6, 1–24 (1914)
Moore, H.B.: Aspects of stress in the tropical marine environment. Adv. mar. Biol. 10, 217–269 (1972)
Morgan, R.P. and R.G. Stross: Destruction of phytoplankton in the cooling water supply of a steam electric station. Chesapeake Sci. 10, 165–171 (1969)
Mullin, M.M.: Some factors affecting the feeding of marine copepods of the genus Calanus. Limnol. Oceanogr. 8, 239–250 (1963)
—, P.R. Sloan and R.W. Eppley: Relationship between carbon content, cell volume, and area in phytoplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 11, 307–311 (1966)
Naylor, E.: Effects of heated effluents upon marine and estuarine organisms. Adv. mar. Biol. 3, 63–103 (1965)
North, W.J. and J.R. Adams: The status of thermal discharges on the Pacific coast. Chesapeake Sci. 10, 139–144 (1969)
Paasche, E.: On the relationship between primary productivity and standing stock of phytoplankton. J. Cons. perm. int. Explor. Mer 26, 33–48 (1960)
Paine, R.T.: Food web complexity and species diversity. Am. Nat. 100, 65–75 (1966)
Patton, S., P.T. Chandler, E.B. Kalan, A.R. Loeblich III, G. Fuller and A.A. Benson: Food value of a red tide (Gonyaulax polyedra). Science, N.Y. 158, 789–790 (1967)
Reid, F.M.H., E. Fuglister and J.B. Jordan: Phytoplankton taxonomy and standing crop. In: The ecology of the plankton off La Jolla, California, in the period April through September, 1967, pp 51–66. Ed. by J.D.H. Strickland, Berkeley: University of California Press 1970
Resources Agency: The energy dilemma: California's 20 year power plant sighting plan. Sacramento: Department of Water Resources 1973
Richman, S. and J.N. Rogers: The feeding of Calanus helgolandicus on synchronously growing populations of the marine diatom Ditylum brightwellii. Limnol. Oceanogr. 14, 701–709 (1969)
Roessler, M.A.: Environmental changes associated with a Florida power plant. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2 (6), 87–90 (1971)
Savage, P.D.V.: Some effects of heated effluents on marine phytoplankton. In: Symposium on Marine Biology Leatherhead, pp 27–32. Leatherhead: Central Electricity Research Laboratories 1969
Stephens, G.C.: Dissolved organic matter as a potential source of nutrition for marine organisms. Am. Zool. 8, 95–106 (1968)
Strathmann, R.R.: Estimating the organic carbon content of phytoplankton from cell volume or plasma volume. Limnol. Oceanogr. 12, 411–418 (1967)
Strickland, J.D.H.: Measuring the production of marine phytoplankton. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 122, 1–172 (1960)
— and T.R. Parsons: A practical handbook of sea-water analysis. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd Can. 167, 1–311 (1968)
Tarzwell, C.M.: An argument for the open ocean siting of coastal thermal electric plants. J. envir. Qual. 1, 89–91 (1972)
Ukeles, R.: The effect of temperature on the growth and survival of several marine algal species. Biol. Bull. mar. biol. Lab., Woods Hole 120, 255–264 (1961)
Utermöhl, H.: Ueber das umgekehrte Mikroskop. Arch. Hydrobiol. Planktonk. 22, 643–645 (1931)
—: Zur Vervollkommnung der quantitativen Phytoplanktonmethodik. Mitt. int. Verein. theor. angew. Limnol. 9, 1–38 (1958)
Warinner, J.E. and M.L. Brehmer: The effects of thermal effluents on marine organisms. Int. J. Air Wat. Pollut. 10, 277–289 (1966)
Williams, G.C.: Studies on the effects of a steam-electric generating plant on the marine environment of Northport, New York. Tech. Rep. N.Y. St. Univ. mar. Sci. Res. Cent. 9 (1971)
Wood, E.J.F.: Effects of thermal additions in temperate and cold waters. Sci. total Envir. 2, 61–80 (1973)
Young, C.-S.: Thermal discharges into the coastal waters of Southern California. Rep. sth. Calif. cstl Wat. Res. Proj. 1, 1–30 (1971)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Communicated by J.S. Pearse, Santa Cruz
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Briand, F.J.P. Effects of power-plant cooling systems on marine phytoplankton. Marine Biology 33, 135–146 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390718
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00390718