Seminar

Submarine groundwater discharge (SGD), as a major component of hydrological cycle, is an important nutrients’ source to coastal water. Recently, coastal ecosystems have received increasingly high land-derived nutrient loadings, leading to frequent red tide occurrence. However, the mechanism of how SGD influences phytoplankton biomass and its community structure is not fully explained. To gain more insight on the understanding of this driving mechanism, field observation, incubation experiment and long-term monitoring data analyses were carried out in Tolo Harbour, Hong Kong. This research successfully explored the role of SGD playing in phytoplankton growth by 1) identifying the potential nutrients sources and estimating their fluxes and nutrient loading; 2) investigating how the hydrodynamic and biogeochemistry mediate the transport and transformation of the nutrients; 3) uncovering the critical nutrient factors for the phytoplankton growth and disentangling the synergistic effects of sources, hydrodynamics and biogeochemical that controlled the phytoplankton community shift.

Additional information: Mr. LIANG Wenzhao, liangwz@connect.hku.hk