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ABSTRACT: Although past studies of phytoplankton dynamics in the San Francisco Bay system are limited in number and scope, they have provided sufficient information to define gross spatial and temporal patterns. Annual changes in the density and composition of phytoplankton populations differ among major geographic areas within the system, and recent studies suggest that phytoplankton dynamics in each major portion of San Francisco Bay are governed by a unique set of environmental factors. The annual maximum abundance of phytoplankton in central San Francisco Bay during spring may be a direct consequence of diatom blooms that occur in coastal waters during the upwelling season. The spring maximum of phytoplankton abundance in South Bay may also result from the dispersion of neritic diatoms from offshore during some years, although the 1978 spring maximum resulted from rapid in situ growth of microflagellate populations. Apparently, stratification of the South Bay water column (initiated by movement of Delta-derived low-density water from the northern reach) creates a shallow surface layer where flagellates are given sufficient solar irradiation to maintain rapid growth rates. Phytoplankton populations in the northern reach of San Francisco Bay apparently are most strongly regulated by the physical accumulation of suspended particulates by gravitational circulation, the rapid growth of planktonic algae over shoals, and phytoplankton dynamics in coastal waters and/or tributaries. Because few research efforts have been implemented to define environmental factors that regulate phytoplankton dynamics, basic unanswered (or unasked) questions remain. There is need (1) to define those functional groups of planktonic algae responsible for fixing inorganic carbon and energy, and then to follow pathways of energy and material transfer from the phytoplankton to other trophic levels, (2) to define the relationships between the physics of water movement and phytoplankton dynamics, and (3) to identify those physical-chemical-biological factors most responsible for regulating phytoplankton population size and composition, and then to quantify the response of algal population growth to changes in these important environmental factors.
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