Streaming Media
Presentation Abstract
Understanding plankton presence is essential for marine health, as they are the food of the ocean. They feed larger animals on the food chain and help bring nutrients to the water. If certain plankton species that are unusual to a particular ecosystem are present, or if a water system is missing an essential type of plankton, it could severely impact marine organism presence located further up the food chain. The goal of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between plankton species presence and the intersection of water systems. To examine this, chlorophyll, plankton, salinity, and temperature data were pulled from the CTDs at Everett Marina and MBT. Everett Marina represents river water and MBT represents estuary water. In examining the data at hand, chlorophyll and temperature levels did not seem to vary significantly between the two sites despite the widely differing salinity levels. This shows that the chlorophyll amount as a whole stayed consistent between the two water systems. Salinity can be explained by the fact that the two sites in question are two different water systems chemically. Plankton density values will show the prominence of plankton species which will be compared by the proximity of sample site to the transect line and compared to normal expected values. Results will enable us to explore further into plankton presence in relation to chemical variance in water systems and see if there are exceptions and how plankton are adapting. It will also determine whether or not there is a relationship between plankton type and water chemistry at all, which will point to if plankton species matter between varying water systems.
Session Title
Poster Session 3: Land - Water Connections
Conference Track
SSE14: Posters
Conference Name
Salish Sea Ecosystem Conference (2022 : Online)
Document Type
Event
SSEC Identifier
SSE-posters-430
Start Date
27-4-2022 4:00 PM
End Date
27-4-2022 4:30 PM
Type of Presentation
Poster
Genre/Form
conference proceedings; presentations (communicative events); posters
Subjects – Topical (LCSH)
Plankton--Washington (State)--Snohomish River Estuary; Plankton populations--Washington (State)--Snohomish River Estuary; Plankton--Washington (State)--Possession Sound ; Plankton populations--Washington (State)--Possession Sound
Geographic Coverage
Snohomish River Estuary (Wash.); Possession Sound (Wash.)
Rights
Copying of this document in whole or in part is allowable only for scholarly purposes. It is understood, however, that any copying or publication of this document for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, shall not be allowed without the author's written permission.
Type
Text
Language
English
Format
application/pdf
Included in
Fresh Water Studies Commons, Marine Biology Commons, Natural Resources and Conservation Commons
Plankton Presence and Gradients along the Merge between Estuary and River Water
Understanding plankton presence is essential for marine health, as they are the food of the ocean. They feed larger animals on the food chain and help bring nutrients to the water. If certain plankton species that are unusual to a particular ecosystem are present, or if a water system is missing an essential type of plankton, it could severely impact marine organism presence located further up the food chain. The goal of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between plankton species presence and the intersection of water systems. To examine this, chlorophyll, plankton, salinity, and temperature data were pulled from the CTDs at Everett Marina and MBT. Everett Marina represents river water and MBT represents estuary water. In examining the data at hand, chlorophyll and temperature levels did not seem to vary significantly between the two sites despite the widely differing salinity levels. This shows that the chlorophyll amount as a whole stayed consistent between the two water systems. Salinity can be explained by the fact that the two sites in question are two different water systems chemically. Plankton density values will show the prominence of plankton species which will be compared by the proximity of sample site to the transect line and compared to normal expected values. Results will enable us to explore further into plankton presence in relation to chemical variance in water systems and see if there are exceptions and how plankton are adapting. It will also determine whether or not there is a relationship between plankton type and water chemistry at all, which will point to if plankton species matter between varying water systems.
