Grantee Research Project Results
2000 Progress Report: Ecohab: Florida; Hydrography/Physical Oceanography Component
EPA Grant Number: R826792Title: Ecohab: Florida; Hydrography/Physical Oceanography Component
Investigators: Vargo, Gabriel A. , Weatherly, Georges , Sturges III, Wilton
Current Investigators: Vargo, Gabriel A.
Institution: University of South Florida , Florida State University
Current Institution: University of South Florida
EPA Project Officer: Packard, Benjamin H
Project Period: June 1, 1998 through May 31, 2001
Project Period Covered by this Report: June 1, 2000 through May 31, 2001
Project Amount: $360,000
RFA: Ecology and Oceanography of Harmful Algal Blooms (1998) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Water Quality , Harmful Algal Blooms , Water , Aquatic Ecosystems
Objective:
The objectives of the ECOHAB:Florida program are to: (1) model the initiation, maintenance, and export of Gymnodinium (G.) breve red tides on the West Florida Shelf at different time and space scales to predict landfall; (2) describe the physical habitat that affects the transport and concentration of G. breve; (3) determine the interactions of cellular, behavioral, life cycle, and community regulation processes with environmental forcing factors during stages of bloom development; (4) determine the sources of inorganic and organic nutrients that allow growth and persistence of large G. breve populations in coastal waters; and (5) determine the production, occurrence, fate, and effects of brevetoxins in the environment during and after G. breve blooms. The specific objectives of this subsection of the ECOHAB:Florida program are to provide: (1) basic current meter and meteorological measurements on the northern West Florida Shelf off Cedar Key; (2) monthly near-synoptic surveys of the physical, chemical, and biological fields within the ECOHAB:Florida control volume; and (3) chlorophyll a and biomass indicators at selected locations within the ECOHAB:Florida control volume.Progress Summary:
Objective 1
Drs. Sturges and Weatherly of Florida State University
are subcontracted to provide basic current meter and meteorological measurements
on the northern West Florida Shelf off Cedar Key. The location of the current
meters and the data available from the moorings can be found at the Web sites
listed at the end of this report. The data are used as far-field input for the
physical oceanographic model being developed by Dr. Robert Weisberg of the
University of South Florida, who is funded by our National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ECOHAB:Florida partner.
Objective 2
We are maintaining monthly near-synoptic surveys of the
physical, chemical, and biological fields within the ECOHAB:Florida control
volume on the Florida Institute of Oceanography (FIO) research vessel R/V
Suncoaster. An additional alongshore transect at the 10 m isobath also is
conducted monthly using the FIO research vessel R/V Bellows. Funds for use of
the Bellows and support for a student to run the cruise and process samples are
provided through a separate contract established with the State of Florida,
Florida Marine Research Institute. Our revised cruise track, which shows the
stations occupied by the Suncoaster and Bellows, can be seen in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Station locations occupied during the monthly ECOHAB:Florida synoptic cruises
Objective 3
Water column samples for chlorophyll a and biomass are
collected at every other station along the three-cross shelf and one along shelf
transects that define the ECOHAB:Florida control volume. The status of sample
analysis is listed in Table 1. Although we do not measure inorganic nutrients as
part of our suite of parameters, these analyses are being done under the
auspices of the ONR-supported HyCode project, which has its study site within
the ECOHAB:Florida control volume. The samples are collected at the ECOHAB
stations during the monthly synoptic cruises, and the data are made available to
all ECOHAB investigators. All ECOHAB-related pigment and biomass data are posted
to our FTP after verification and are available to all investigators. In
addition, the data are sent to Dr. Karen Steidinger for GIS input and to NODC
for archiving.
|
Table 1. Summary of ECOHAB measurement
status | |
|
Measurement |
Status* |
| Inorganic Nutrients (NO3, NO2, SiO4, PO4, NH3) | Completed through June 2001 cruise |
| Organic Nutrients | TDP: complete through June 2001 |
| DON: analyzed through March 2000 | |
| Particulate Nutrients | CHN: completed through June 2000 |
| Particulate P: current | |
| Chlorophyll a | Completed through current survey |
| G. breve Cell Concentration | Completed through current survey |
| Phytoplankton Community Composition | Archived for future; analysis underway |
| Underway Data (Fluorescence, Temperature, Salinity, Turbidity)** |
Processed through current survey |
| *Status indicated as completed includes chemical analysis, data entry, and calculation. | |
| **Processing of underway data consists of manual inspection of data for recording errors prior to bin averaging (30 sec) and combining approximately 35 files to facilitate data analysis and graphing. | |
Although not included in the objectives for this project, the co-investigators are responsible for and do provide synthesis of the information derived from the monthly synoptic cruises. The publications and presentations listed below reflect this effort.
Future Activities:
Because this was to be the last year of this project while our partner funding from NOAA continued for another year, we requested and were granted a 1-year no-cost extension. In addition, separate funding from the U.S. EPA will allow continuation of this project for a fourth year. As noted above, funds from NOAA and the State of Florida are available to continue our monthly quasisynoptic cruises. Therefore, we will continue to provide underway measurements, hydrography, and phytoplankton biomass measurements and population abundance (including G. breve) from both research vessels along the transects that delimit the ECOHAB:Florida control volume.In addition, Dr. Cynthia Heil, who is supported by U.S. EPA funds on this project, has been awarded, along with her co-investigators Drs. Margaret Mulholland and Deborah Bronk, funds from the National Science Foundation for a 3-year program designed to assess the production and excretion of nitrogen fixed by the cyanobacterium Trichodesmium and its utilization by Karinia brevis. A key component of their proposal was data generated by the previous 3 years of U.S. EPA funds. Their study will feed directly into the ECOHAB:Florida database and provide needed information on the potential sources and quantities of nitrogen required to support blooms. Their data also will provide the only information on N-fixation levels that will be incorporated into calculations that drive the predictive coupled physical-biological model being developed as part of the ECOHAB:Florida program.
Journal Articles on this Report : 3 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 31 publications | 5 publications in selected types | All 4 journal articles |
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| Type | Citation | ||
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Del Castillo CE, Coble PG, Conmy RN, Muller-Karger FE, Vanderbloemen L, Vargo GA. Multispectral in situ measurements of organic matter and chlorophyll fluorescence in seawater: Documenting the intrusion of the Mississippi River plume in the West Florida Shelf. Limnology and Oceanography 2001;46(7):1836-1843. |
R826792 (2000) R826792 (Final) |
not available |
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Heil CA, Glibert PM, Al-Sarawl MA, Faraj M, Behbehani M, Husain M. First record of a fish-killing Gymnodinium sp bloom in Kuwait Bay, Arabian Sea: chronology and potential causes. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 2001;214():15-23 |
R826792 (2000) R826792 (Final) |
not available |
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Lenes JM, Darrow BP, Cattrall C, Heil CA, Callahan M, Vargo GA, Byrne RH, Prospero JM, Bates DE, Fanning KA, Walsh JJ. Iron fertilization and the Trichodesmium response on the West Florida shelf. Limnology and Oceanography 2001;46(6):1261-1277. |
R826792 (2000) R827085 (2000) R827085 (2001) |
Exit Exit |
Supplemental Keywords:
harmful algal blooms, ecosystem, habitat, marine science, ecology, oceanography, monitoring, satellite, Gulf of Mexico, tourist industry., RFA, Scientific Discipline, Geographic Area, Water, Ecosystem Protection/Environmental Exposure & Risk, State, Oceanography, algal blooms, Biochemistry, remote sensing, bloom dynamics, coastal resources, hydrography, marine biotoxins, brevetoxins, phytoplankton, remote sensing techniques, transport and concentration, bioindicator development, ECOHAB, Florida, FLARelevant Websites:
http://www.floridamarine.org/ 
http://gulf.ocean.fsu.edu/~www/ADCP
http://gulf.ocean.fsu.edu
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.