Phytoplankton interannual variability at Cassino beach, southern Brazil (1992 2007), with emphasis on the surf zone diatom Asterionellopsis glacialis

A long-term study (monthly sampling, 1992 to 2007) was conducted in the surf zone of Cassino Beach, Southern Brazil, in order to detect possible natural and/or anthropogenic disturbances. Surface water temperature (6– 29°C) was the only parameter with predictable seasonal variation; salinity (14–38) was inversely related to rainfall (3.1–485.2 mm month−1) and low values followed extreme precipitation periods in 1997/1998 and 2002/2003 (El Niño years). Asterionellopsis glacialis and chlorophyll a presented high concentrations and peak frequency until 1998, when an intense mud deposition occurred with concomitant extreme rainfall. It affected the surf zone and beach, changing the hydrology and dissolved inorganic nutrient availability. Six phytoplankton species groups were recognized with distinct responses to this mud deposition. We conclude that large-scale climatic changes, like El Niño Southern Oscillation, in conjunction with human activities significantly altered the phytoplankton ecology of the highly dynamic Cassino Beach surf zone

The contribution of groundwater discharge to nutrient exports from a coastal catchment: post flood seepage increases estuarine N/P ratios

Four months of daily nutrient and radon (a natural groundwater tracer) observations at the outlet of a heavily drained coastal wetland illustrated how episodic floods and diffuse groundwater seepage influence the biogeochemistry of a sub-tropical estuary (Richmond River, New South Wales, Australia). Our observations downstream of the Tuckean Swamp (an acid sulphate soil floodplain) covered a dry stage, a flood triggered by a 213-mm rain event and a post-flood stage when surface water chemistry was dominated by groundwater discharge. Significant correlations were found between radon and ammonium and N/P ratios and between radon and dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) during the post-flood stage. While the flood lasted for 14 % of the time of the surface water time series, it accounted for 18 % of NH4, 32 % of NO x , 66 % of DON, 58 % of PO4 and 55 % of dissolved organic phosphorus (DOP) catchment exports. Over the 4-month study period, groundwater fluxes of 35.0, 3.6, 36.3, 0.5 and 0.7 mmol m−2 day−1 for NH4, NO x , DON, PO4 and DOP, respectively, were estimated. The groundwater contribution to the total surface water catchment exports was nearly 100 % for ammonium, and% for the other nutrients. Post-flood groundwater seepage shifted the system from a DON to a dissolved inorganic N-dominated system and doubled N/P ratios in surface waters. We hypothesise that the Richmond River Estuary N/P ratios may reflect a widespread trend of tidal rivers and estuaries becoming more groundwater-dominated and phosphorus-limited as coastal wetlands are drained for agriculture, grazing and development