Phenology of Trichodesmium spp. blooms in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, Australia, from the ESA-MERIS 10-year mission
Blondeau-Patissier, David, Brando, Vittorio Ernesto, Lønborg, Christian, Leahy, Susannah M., and Dekker, Arnold G. (2018) Phenology of Trichodesmium spp. blooms in the Great Barrier Reef lagoon, Australia, from the ESA-MERIS 10-year mission. PLoS ONE, 13 (12). e0208010.
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Abstract
Trichodesmium, a filamentous bloom-forming marine cyanobacterium, plays a key role in the biogeochemistry of oligotrophic ocean regions because of the ability to fix nitrogen. Naturally occurring in the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), the contribution of Trichodesmium to the nutrient budget may be of the same order as that entering the system via catchment runoff. However, the cyclicity of Trichodesmium in the GBR is poorly understood and sparsely documented because of the lack of sufficient observations. This study provides the first systematic analysis of Trichodesmium spatial and temporal occurrences in the GBR over the decade-long MERIS ocean color mission (2002–2012). Trichodesmium surface expressions were detected using the Maximum Chlorophyll Index (MCI) applied to MERIS satellite imagery of the GBR lagoonal waters. The MCI performed well (76%), albeit tested on a limited set of images (N = 25) coincident with field measurements. A north (Cape York) to south (Fitzroy) increase in the extent, frequency and timing of the surface expressions characterized the GBR, with surface expressions extending over several hundreds of kilometers. The two southernmost subregions Mackay and Fitzroy accounted for the most (70%) bloom events. The bloom timing of Trichodesmium varied from May in the north to November in the south, with wet season conditions less favorable to Trichodesmium aggregations. MODIS-Aqua Sea Surface Temperature (SST) datasets, wind speed and field measurements of nutrient concentrations were used in combination with MCI positive instances to assess the blooms' driving factors. Low wind speed (<6 m.s-1) and SST > 24°C were associated with the largest surface aggregations. Generalized additive models (GAM) indicated an increase in bloom occurrences over the 10-year period with seasonal bloom patterns regionally distinct. Interannual variability in SST partially (14%) explained bloom occurrences, and other drivers, such as the subregion and the nutrient budget, likely regulate Trichodesmium surface aggregations in the GBR.
| Item ID: | 56812 |
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| Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
| ISSN: | 1932-6203 |
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| Copyright Information: | © 2018 Blondeau-Patissier et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. |
| Additional Information: | Notice of republication: This article was republished on February 25, 2019 to correct for errors introduced during the typesetting process. The publisher apologizes for the errors. Please download this article again to view the correct version. The originally published, uncorrected article and the republished, corrected article are provided here for reference. See link in Related URLs for more information. |
| Date Deposited: | 09 Jan 2019 07:37 |
| FoR Codes: | 31 BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES > 3103 Ecology > 310305 Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) @ 100% |
| SEO Codes: | 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9699 Other Environment > 969999 Environment not elsewhere classified @ 100% |
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