| Bacterial and phytoplankton biomasses were estimated in a four-year study along a saline gradient (the dilution plume of the Gironde estuary on the Aquitanian continental shelf), by measuring bacterial abundance and mean cell volumes (epifluorescence counts) and chlorophyll-a concentrations tin vitro fluorescence). The spatial and temporal distribution of phytoplankton enabled us to determine the seasonal succession of algal blooms, sprouting in the marine waters of the inner shelf in early spring (picoplanktonic forms), reaching their annual maximum (10 mu g L-1) in plume waters in advanced spring, and moving to estuarine waters in the summer (> 20 mu m forms). Bacterial biomasses followed mainly a decreasing dilution gradient, especially in winter and... |
