Date of Award

Summer 1993

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Biological Sciences

Program/Concentration

Biology

Committee Director

Harold G. Marshall

Committee Member

Andrew Gordon

Committee Member

Mark Butler

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.B46 W435

Abstract

A bloom of the dinoflagellate Ptychodiscus brevis occurred off the North Carolina coast in late 1987, and samples were forwarded by NOAA to the Old Dominion University Phytoplankton Laboratory for total phytoplankton analysis. Six sampling stations were chosen to represent different bloom scenarios and these six were clustered into three site groups based on the concentrations of statistically significant taxa. Abundances of phytoplankton taxonomic groups over time were examined in relation to P. brevis concentrations to identify any general tendencies. These results indicated the total phytoplankton concentration, and most taxonomic groups, increased at all three site groups regardless of the flux in P. brevis concentrations. Multiple regression analyses indicated a combination of almost all taxonomic groups was necessary to predict concentrations of P. brevis. Principle components analysis and multiple regression analyses identified several taxa that had a positive association with P. brevis, with nine taxa having negative associations. Relationships between P. brevis and statistically influential principle components were closer when the bloom was established, or in decline. Relationships were not as strong in areas where the bloom was developing.

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DOI

10.25777/qfwq-m003

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