The role of iron on the phytoplankton growth in heavily polluted İzmir Bay Aegean Sea

• DOI: 10.2495/wp970641
• Publication Date: 1997-01-01
• Authors: METİN, GÜLNUR; BİZSEL, NİHAYET; Öztürk, Murat

In order to elucidate the role of iron in phytoplankton bloom, total and reactive iron concentration were monitored in Izmir Bay before, during and after the bloom periods in between 1993-1994. Izmir Bay is divided into three sections; heavily polluted Inner Bay, moderately polluted Middle Bay and relatively unpolluted Outer bay. Thus, the probable effect of iron on phytoplankton growth has been observed for three different levels of pollution throughout the Bay. Izmir Bay has been suffering from anthropogenic pollution and associated water quality problems, such as hypoxia-anoxia. Preliminary results have revealed a dynamic relation between iron and the size of phytoplankton population throughout the Bay. These results suggest that the reactive iron may be an ' important factor for phytoplankton bloom and its distribution in coastal waters. Additionally, PCA (Principal Component Analysis) has shown that 35% of the variation in the data collected during the surveys was related to reactive iron, phosphorus forms (dissolved, particulate and total) and ammonium, 14% of the variation was related to chl-a, phytoplankton cell numbers, DO and pH, and finally 11% of the variation was related to nitrite, nitrate, and temperature.