The spring bloom is a strong increase in phytoplankton abundance (i.e. stock) that typically occurs in the early spring and lasts until late spring or early summer. This seasonal event is characteristic of temperate North Atlantic, sub-polar, and coastal waters.[1][2] Phytoplankton blooms occur when growth exceeds losses, however there is no universally accepted definition of the magnitude of change or the threshold of abundance that constitutes a bloom. The magnitude, spatial extent and duration of a bloom depends on a variety of abiotic and biotic factors. Abiotic factors include light availability, nutrients, temperature, and physical processes that influence light availability,[1][2][3][4][5] and biotic factors include grazing, viral lysis, and phytoplankton physiology.[6] The factors that lead to bloom initiation are still actively debated (see Critical depth).
- ^ a b Mann, K.H., Lazier, J.R.N. (2006). Dynamics of Marine Ecosystems: Biological-Physical Interactions in the Oceans. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN 1-4051-1118-6
- ^ a b Miller, C.B. (2004). "Biological Oceanography" Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd. ISBN 978-0-632-05536-4
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Winderwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Oviatt, C., Keller, A., and Reed, L. (2002). "Annual Primary Production in Narragansett Bay with no Bay-Wide Winter–Spring Phytoplankton Bloom". Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 54: 1013–1026. doi:10.1006/ecss.2001.0872
- ^ Smayda, T.J. (1998). "Patterns of variability characterizing marine phytoplankton, with examples from Narragansett Bay". ICES Journal of Marine Science 55: 562–573
- ^ Hunter-Cevera, Kristen R.; Neubert, Michael G.; Olson, Robert J.; Solow, Andrew R.; Shalapyonok, Alexi; Sosik, Heidi M. (2016). "Physiological and ecological drivers of early spring blooms of a coastal phytoplankter". Science. 354 (6310): 326–329. Bibcode:2016Sci...354..326H. doi:10.1126/science.aaf8536. PMID 27846565.