SS9.01 Ecosystem Science Practiced in an Urbanized Estuary: South San Francisco Bay Lesen, A, E, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, USA, alesen@pratt.edu   TROPHIC ECOLOGY OF ESTUARINE MEIOFAUNA: RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN BENTHIC FORAMINIFERA AND FOOD RESOURCES IN SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO BAY, CA, U.S.A Water column parameters (chlorophyll concentration) and sediment parameters (chlorophyll, total organic carbon, nitrogen, amino acids, bacterial abundance) were measured, and benthic foraminiferal population size and biovolume was counted and calculated monthly from November 1999, through November 2001 from one site in South San Francisco Bay. Water column chlorophyll peaked in the spring of 2000 and 2001 and the fall of 2000, with sediment parameters peaking one to three months later. The benthic foraminiferal population peaked during the spring of both study years, and showed a large peak in the fall of 2001 dominated by the small sized foraminifer, Fursenkoina pontoni. The data strongly suggest that benthic foraminifera increase in numbers following phytoplankton blooms when many kinds of sediment organic matter also increase. Foraminiferal biovolume and standing crop generally increase when sediment C:N ratio increases, suggesting that benthic foraminiferal populations in South San Francisco Bay are exploiting a detrital food source. Thus, foraminifera are probably quick to exploit sediment organic matter, and may be important reminieralizers of nutrients in this system.   Return to This Session's Schedule     Abstract Search