J. E. Cloern
S.M. Wienke
1987
<p><span>Phytoplankton biomass (as carbon) was estimated from chlorophyll </span><i>a</i><span> concentrations (Chl</span><i>a</i><span>) and a mean value for the ratio of phytoplankton carbon to chlorophyll </span><i>a</i><span> in San Francisco Bay. The ratio was determined as the slope of a Model II regression of POC' against (Chl</span><i>a</i><span>), where POC' is total particulate organic carbon minus sediment-associated non-phytoplankton carbon. Samples from 30 fixed sites in the channel and lateral shoals of San Francisco Bay were collected once or twice a month from April to November 1980, and at irregular intervals in South Bay during 1984 and 1985. For all data the calculated mean value of phytoplankton C:Chl</span><i>a</i><span> was 51 (95% confidence interval = 47–54). No significant differences were found in the C:Chl</span><i>a</i><span> ratio between shallow and deep sites (where light availability differs) or between northern and southern San Francisco Bay (where phytoplankton community composition differs). Using the mean C:Chl</span><i>a</i><span> ratio of 51, we calculated that phytoplankton biomass constitutes about one third of seston carbon under most circumstances, but this fraction ranges from about 95% during phytoplankton blooms to less than 20% during spring periods of low phytoplankton biomass and high suspended sediment concentration.</span></p>
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10.1016/0077-7579(87)90020-2
en
Elsevier
The phytoplankton component of seston in San Francisco Bay
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