Foraminiferal densities and pore water chemistry in the Indian River, Florida

Related Titles

Series: Smithsonian contributions to the marine sciences, no. 36

By

Buzas, Martin A.

Severin, Kenneth P.

Type

Book

Material

Published material

Publication info

Washington, D.C, Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993

Notes

Two stations were established about 10 m apart at a depth of about 1 m at Link Port, Florida. One consisted of quartz sand and the other of quartz sand with a dense stand of seagrass. At the surface of each station and at a depth of 10 cm at the grass site, four replicate samples consisting of 5 ml each were taken every fortnight from 27 March to 6 November 1978 (17 sampling times, 204 samples). The taxa Quinqueloculina, Elphidium, Ammonia, Bolivina, and Ammobaculites comprising 98% of the fauna were enumerated. In addition, pore water chemistry was measured for temperature, salinity, oxygen, pH, Eh, NH3, PO4, Si, NO2, and NO2, + NO3.General linear models were used to analyze the bare surface-grass surface, and grass surface-grass 10 cm data sets. Foraminiferal densities were evaluated for differences between sites, periodicity, sites × periodicity (interaction), and environmental variables.Differences in overall density between the bare surface-grass surface sites were not significant for the three most abundant taxa (Quinqueloculina, Elphidium, and Ammonia). At the grass site the density for all taxa were significantly lower at 10 cm than at the surface (very few individuals were observed at 10 cm).Hypotheses for periodicity and interaction were significant for all taxa in all comparisons except for Bolivina in the bare surface-grass surface analysis. At the bare surface, maximum densities occurred in spring while at the grass surface in summer. Although densities were low at 10 cm, no synchronization between the grass surface and 10 cm was evident.The environmental variables were significant for all taxa in both comparisons. The environmental variables are, however, highly correlated. To alleviate this difficulty, a principal component analysis was performed on these variables. The first three components included all of the 10 variables. Subsequent multiple regression of foramineferal densities and the principal components indicated that usually at least two components, accounting for most of the variables, were statistically significant. Thus, no simple relationship between pore water chemistry and density is apparent. The very large difference in density between the grass surface and 10 cm depth is much more strongly related to the pore water chemistry than the smaller differences with time at the surface sites.

Subjects

Florida , Foraminifera , Indian River (River) , population density , Pore water , Protozoan populations

Language

English

Identifiers

GPO: 0910-M
LCCN: https://lccn.loc.gov/92046076
OCLC: 27434861