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Modelling the distribution of Anabaena and Melosira in a stratified river weir pool

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Abstract

We have developed a model to predict the stratification dynamics and its influence on the distribution of algal species in a river with strong diurnal changes in temperaturestratification. While the phytoplankton concentrations vary inresponse to buoyancy and light limited growth, the populationsare also redistributed vertically due to diurnal mixing causedby surface evaporation and night time cooling. Theparameterization of the vertical eddy diffusivity coefficientwithin the model takes into account the generation of mixing byheat losses at the surface and the suppression of mixing bythermal stratification.

The model is successfully tested against extensive temperatureand algal concentration data in Maude weir pool on theMurrumbidgee River, Australia. Given literature values offloating/sinking rates and maximum growth rates for thecyanobacterium Anabaena and the diatom Melosira, wewere able to reproduce extremely well the time evolution ofconcentrations of each species over long periods of low flow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia

    Myriam Bormans & Scott A. Condie

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  1. Myriam Bormans
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  2. Scott A. Condie
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Bormans, M., Condie, S.A. Modelling the distribution of Anabaena and Melosira in a stratified river weir pool. Hydrobiologia 364, 3–13 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003103706305

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003103706305

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