| French estuaries, from the Atlantic coast to the English channel, have been characterized by a poor phytoplankton biomass. The turbidity has always been considered as the limiting factor for phytoplankton. Estuarine ecosystems are situated at the boundary between the land and the sea. Consequently, they are subject to an enrichment by nutrient loadings from upland ecosystems. Although it has been demonstrated that a part of the nutrient loadings support an important benthic production. The part, which escapes to the estuarine benthic and planktonic food web and is exported to adjacent estuarine ecosystems, still remains undetermined. Quantifying the nu trient and particulate matter exchange between a macrotidal Bay, the Fier d'Ars, and the adjacent ocean... |
