Abstract
(Sub-project to 839.08.040) Primary production by both phytoplankton and microphytobenthos are key processes determining the carrying capacity of the Wadden Sea ecosystem. Our main aims are to investigate how bottom up processes regulate primary production of functional groups of phytoplankton and microphytobenthos, and how the structure of functional groups of primary producers is shaped as a result of the different resource demands. . The work proposed here specifically focuses on P as a factor limiting benthic and pelagic primary production in the western and central Wadden Sea, controlling the relative importance of pelagic versus benthic primary production and the species composition of the phototrophic communities. The implications of this compositional selection in structuring the food web and carrying capacity of the Wadden Sea will be addressed by defining the transfer of carbon to various development stages of selected benthic primary consumers. New views on the functioning of the lower food web are to be conceptualized in a biogeochemical model and provide essential information on the direction and magnitude of change in Wadden Sea carrying capacity as a result of management policies or global change. The overall hypothesis to be tested is that the availability of the pelagic and benthic primary producers as a food source and the food demand of their primary consumers is changing due to a decrease in P-loading, altering the structure of the foodweb and decreasing the potential carrying capacity.
Netherlands