Stoichiometric variations of N, P, C and O2 during a Gymnodinium catenatum red tide and their interpretation

Abstract

Vertical variation during a red tide in the Ria de Vigo, Spain, in October 1986 is described. Stoichiometric equations are obtained for biomass synthesis in the superficial water layer and in the nutricline which are adjusted to the experimental data. From these chemical parameters a new parameter "NCO' is calculated which remains constant in both normal phytoplankton populations and dinoflagellates endowed with vertical migration and differential synthesis of cellular compounds. With this parameter, the oxygen loss to the atmosphere during the red tide was estimated and a good fit was found with that calculated from the diffusion. Net accumulated production and vertical nutrient transport are also quantified. -from Authors