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THE EFFECT OF PRECIPITATION ON ORGANIC CARBON COMPONENTS IN BAYOU TEXAR, FLORIDA
Citation:
Pasko, E M., J K. Summers, R. A. Snyder, V D. Engle, M C. Murrell, G T. Didonato, AND J M. Macauley. THE EFFECT OF PRECIPITATION ON ORGANIC CARBON COMPONENTS IN BAYOU TEXAR, FLORIDA. Presented at Fall 2000 Meeting of the Gulf Estuarine Research Society, Hammond, LA, November 11-15, 2000.
Description:
This study examined the relationship between precipitation and organic carbon in Bayou Texar, part of Florida's Pensacola Bay system in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Weekly samples were collected from five stations between March to June, 1999. Additionally, samples were taken before, during and after rain events throughout the sampling period using an autosampler. Particulate organic carbon (POC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC), chlorophyll (chl a), and nutrient (PO4-P, NOx-N, NH4-N) data were analyzed to examine the effects of storm water from rain events. Regression analysis was used to identify relationships between physical and chemical components in the system. Although pulses of POC, DOC, and nutrients can be detected in the bayou during rain events, results suggest that each component is quickly diluted. During this study, rainfall and runoff from individual rain events replaced between 1 - 8% of the total bayou volume. Overall, rainfall and runoff had no consistent measurable impacts on the carbon concentrations in Bayou Texar over daily to monthly temporal scales. Nutrient levels suggest that Bayou Texar was nutrient replete during the entire sampling period, implying that nutrient additions from rainfall and runoff did not stimulate phytoplankton growth, The distribution of NOx-N along the salinity gradient suggests nutrient enrichment from terrestrial sources, but storm water additions during the study period could not account for this enrichment. Increases in both POC and Chl a were strongly correlated with seasonal increase in surface temperatures and were also independent of storm events. Future studies will determine if the carbon cycle in Bayou Texar is seasonally driven over an annual scale period.