Search results for " coastal system"

Study of the origin and fate of organic matter in a tropical bay using elemental, isotopic and fatty acid biomarkers.

2014

Organic matter (OM) exchanges between adjacent coastal ecosystems affect the role of the different primary producers as energy and nutrient sources in food webs. Elemental and isotope parameters (C/N ratios, δ13C) and fatty acid (FA) biomarkers were used to assess the origin and distribution of OM in both surface sediment and water along a strongly tidally-influenced tropical area, Gazi Bay (Kenya), in two climatic seasons (dry and rainy). Dominant primary producers (i.e. mangroves, macroalgae and seagrasses) were also characterized through the same combined approach. Export of the mangrove-derived OM, highly depleted, to the adjacent bay was evident from a gradual 13C-enrichment of primary…