Benthic microalgae

In a similar way, microalgal biomass on the sediment surface can be estimated by measuring the chlorophyll contents in benthic microalgae, which are single-celled microscopic plants that inhabit the top 0 to 3 cm of a sediment surface and are sometimes referred to as microphytobenthos. These organisms are the primary food resources of benthic grazers such as shellfish and numerous finfish species. 

Currin, C. A., S. Y. Newell, and H. W. Paerl. 1995. The role of standing dead Spartina alterniflora and benthic microalgae in salt marsh food webs Considerations based on multiple stable isotope analysis. Marine Ecology Progress Series 121 99-116. 

As discussed earlier, not only does deposition of POM to the sediment surface typically vary over time in estuaries, but there are also issues of POM actively growing at the sediment-water interface, such as benthic microalgae. This is an important issue because the rate of supply of POM is assumed to be equal to the depositional flux from the water column (Berner, 1980). More details on diagenetic models addressing the surface boundary condition constraints as well as POM lability can be found in Aller (1982) and Rice and Rhoads (1989). When examining biological mixing as a one-dimensional... 

Marine/estuarine phytoplankton C—4 salt marsh plants Benthic microalgae C-3 Freshwater/brackish marsh plants... 

Dalsgaard, T. (2003) Benthic primary production and nutrient cycling in sediments with benthic microalgae and transient accumulation of macroalgae. Limnol. Oceanogr. 48, 2138-2150. 

Goldfinch, A.C., and Carman, K.R. (2000) Chironomid grazing on benthic microalgae in a Louisiana salt marsh. Estuaries 23, 536-547. 

Jahnke, R.A., Nelson, J.R., Marinelli, R.L., and Eckman, J.E. (2000) Benthic flux of biogenic elements on the southeastern U.S. continental shelf influence of porewater advective transport and benthic microalgae. Cont. Shelf Res. 20, 109-127. 

Pinckney, J.L., and Zingmark, R.A. (1993) Modeling the annual production of intertidal benthic microalgae in estuarine ecosystems J. Phycol. 2, 396 -07. 

Rysgaard, S., Christensen, P.B., and Nielsen, L.P. (1995) Seasonal variation in nitrification and denitrification in estuarine sediment colonized by benthic microalgae and bioturbating infauna. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 126, 111-121. 

Serodip, J.J., Da Silva, M., and Catarino, F. (1998) Non-destructive tracing of migratory rhythms of intertidal benthic microalgae using in vivo chlorophyll-a fluorescence. J. Phycol. 33, 542-553. 

Risgaard-Petersen, N., Nicolaisen, M. H., Revsbech, N. P., and Lomstein, B. A. (2004b). Competition between ammonia-oxidizing bacteria and benthic microalgae. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70, 5528—5537. 

Study included flux measurements at sites characterized by six different sediment-plant types Enteromorpha sp., phytoplankton detritus, seagrass + epiphytes, seagrass, Gradlaria sp., and benthic microalgae. Incubations were done in the light and dark net release rates are reported. 

Eyre, B. D., and Ferguson, A. J. P. (2002). Comparison of carbon production and decomposition, benthic nutrient fluxes and denitrification in seagrass, phytoplankton, benthic microalgae- and macroalgae-dominated warm-temperate Australian lagoons. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 229, 43—59. 

Influence of benthic microalgae of sediment nitrogen cycle processes... 

Porubsky, W. P., Velasquez, L., andjoye, S. B. (2008b). Nutrient replete benthic microalgae as a source of dissolved organic carbon to coastal waters. Estuaries and Coasts. 

Risgaard-Petersen, N. (2003). Coupled nitrification-denitrification in autotrophic and heterotrophic estuarine sediments On the influence of benthic microalgae. Limnol. Oceanogr. 48, 93—105. Risgaard-Petersen, N., Rysgaard, S., Nielsen, L. P., and Revsbech, N. P. (1994). Diurnal variation of denitrification and nitrification in sediments colonized by benthic microphytes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 

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