Modeling investigation of the nutrients and phytoplankton dynamics in the Moroccan Atlantic coast: A case study of Agadir coast

Hanane Rhomad, Karima Khalil, Ramiro Neves, Blaid Bougadir and Khalid Elkalay

Ecological Modelling, 2021, vol. 447, issue C

Abstract: Although the environmental status of the Moroccan Atlantic coastal waters has been researched in previous studies, there is still a lack of knowledge about its biogeochemical functioning. Especially for the Agadir coast where measurements are quite scarce, realistic ecological models can help identifying the key mechanisms driving fluctuations in such coastal areas. Here we implemented a three-dimensional (3D) coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model in order investigate the time-space distribution of inorganic nutrients (NO₃, PO₄ and SiO₄), and their control on phytoplankton (diatoms, flagellates) biomass on the Agadir coast. Model performance was evaluated against satellite observations and climatology data. The model achieved satisfactory representation of the sea surface temperature, chlorophyll-a, and a reasonable agreement in the seasonal pattern of inorganic nutrients. Based on nutrient concentrations and their stoichiometric ratio; the study points to nitrate as the key factor controlling phytoplankton distribution (largely dominated by flagellates). Nitrate depletion occurs faster than phosphate and silicate, thus driving the area towards nitrogen limitation.

Keywords: Biogeochemical model; Agadir coast; diatoms; flagellates; nitrogen limitation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380021000818
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:447:y:2021:i:c:s0304380021000818

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2021.109510

Access Statistics for this article

Ecological Modelling is currently edited by Brian D. Fath

More articles in Ecological Modelling from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().