Publication

2002-12

English

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/2002/publication-599.pdf (0.13 Mo)

2002 Cambridge University Press

Blanchard Gerard, Simon Bouhet B, Guarini J

Univ Rochelle, Lab Biol & Environm Marins, EA3168, F-17000 La Rochelle, France.
IFREMER, CNRS, UMR10, CREMA, F-17137 Lhoumeau, France.

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom (0025-3154) (Cambridge University Press), 2002-12 , Vol. 82 , N. 6 , P. 1027-1028

11

Ecology

Diurnal variation, Chlorophyll concentration, Microphytobenthic biomass

The short-term variability of intertidal microphytobenthic biomass was characterized by analysing a 30-day time series encompassing two spring-neap tide cycles. Chlorophyll-a concentration was measured every day at the beginning and at the end of every diurnal exposure periods. Microalgal biomass exhibited predictible net increases during diurnal exposures due to a positive production-loss balance. In addition, our data series shows that after an environmental disturbance, even though biomass decreased strongly, it converged quickly back to its initial steady-state oscillation pattern. This study supports some fundamental properties of the dynamics of microphytobenthic biomass, as previously predicted in our mathematical model of primary production.