The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, California : a national estuarine research reserve ecologyoftijuana00zedl Year: 1992 Channels are subjected to a wide range of environmental conditions. Tidal flushing is greatest at the mouth and decreases with distance from the mouth; this general gradient in turn influences water movement, salinity, temperature, nutrients, and dissolved gases. Finer sediments are removed by higher current velocities, so that substrates near the mouth have coarser sediments than in tidal creeks. Nutrients brought into the estuary by tidal flush
The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, The ecology of Tijuana Estuary, California : a national estuarine research reserve ecologyoftijuana00zedl Year: 1992 Channels are subjected to a wide range of environmental conditions. Tidal flushing is greatest at the mouth and decreases with distance from the mouth; this general gradient in turn influences water movement, salinity, temperature, nutrients, and dissolved gases. Finer sediments are removed by higher current velocities, so that substrates near the mouth have coarser sediments than in tidal creeks. Nutrients brought into the estuary by tidal flushing are more readily available to organisms near the mouth. Temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen are less variable in areas of deep water than in tidal creeks. These environmental factors influ- ence the species composition, distribution, and population dynamics of the channel organisms. Algae The obvious plants of intertidal and subtidal areas are the macroalgae. Vascular plants such as eelgrass (Zostera marina) are absent, perhaps because the area of shallow water is too small or too dynamic for rooted plants to become established. However, large populations of Enteromorpha sp. and/or sea lettuce (Ulva sp.; Figure ) sometimes develop on the channel bottoms and later float to the water surface (Rudnicki 1986). Seasonal distribution patterns are highly variable, but their abundance is usually greatest in spring (Chapter 4). Phytoplankton are also variable in species composition and density. Dinoflagellates (, Gymnodinium spp.), diatoms, filamentous blue-green algae (cyanophytes), and unidentified unicells or 'monads' are all present in the water column (Figure ; Fong 1986). While most of these algae are typical planktonic species, the diatoms are all pennate forms with bilateral symmetry and longitudinal grooves that allow locomotion on substrates. Fong (pers. comm.) believes that most of these are resuspended from the sediments. Figure Channel
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