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Effect of light and turbulent mixing on the growth of Skeletonema costatum (Bacillariophyceae)

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Abstract

Skeletonema costatum was grown in an outdoor mesocosm to test the hypothesis that fluctuations in irradiance brought about by changes in mixing time and depth can reduce diatom growth and biomass in the turbulent mixed layer. The light environment and mixing regime within the mesocosm were comparable to those in shallow lakes and coastal waters. Experiments showed no significant differences for 24-h mean and 7-day mean chlorophyll a and carbon-specific growth for mixed depths of 1 m and 3 m, and mixing times between 4 min and 65 min. Fluctuations in irradiance brought about by turbulent mixing had no significant effect on specific growth. The relationship between mixed depths and critical depths for S. costatum was therefore independent of fluctuations in irradiance in the turbulent mixed layer. The results indicated that to control growth of S. costatum mixed depths would have to exceed photic depths by a factor of 15, instead of the conventionally accepted factor of 5. Thus, it is likely that artificial mixing of shallow (<10 m) eutrophic waters will be more effective in controlling ‘slow-growing’ summer biomass than ‘fast-growing’ spring blooms dominated by diatoms.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 for an award to Dipen Patel that made this research possible. We are most grateful to Mr. Bob Head at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory, England, for his kind assistance in analysing the carbon samples. The experiments described comply fully with current United Kingdom laws.

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  1. Dipen Patel

    Present address: Office of Water Programs, California State University Sacramento, 6000 J. Street, Modoc Hall Room 1001, Sacramento, CA, 95819-6025, USA

  2. Daniel C. O. Thornton

    Present address: Department of Oceanography, Texas A & M University, O & M Building, 3146 TAMU, College Station, TX, 77846, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, UK

    Dipen Patel, Brenda Thake & Daniel C. O. Thornton

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  1. Dipen Patel
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  2. Brenda Thake
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Correspondence to Dipen Patel.

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Communicated by P.W. Sammarco, Chauvin

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Patel, D., Thake, B. & Thornton, D.C.O. Effect of light and turbulent mixing on the growth of Skeletonema costatum (Bacillariophyceae). Marine Biology 146, 633–644 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00227-004-1486-4

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