Temporal variability of benthic-pelagic coupling in shallow enclosed environment: A case study with eutrophying shrimp ponds.

The evolution of benthic pelagic coupling was followed in two semi-intensive shrimp ponds in New Caledonia, with a special emphasis on the role of microphytobenthos (MPB). Three distinct periods could be identified. During the first period, MPB activity led to relative decoupling between the water column and the sediment, both compartments being autotrophic with low nutrients exchanges. During the second period, the sediment operated at the edge of a functional switch between autotrophy and heterotrophy. The amplitude of nutrient fluxes depended of the pool considered (DIN, DIP) and showed light dark variation. In the last period, sediment switched to heterotrophy with the establishment of benthic-pelagic coupling concomitantly to a massive sediment resuspension due to the shrimp activity. These findings should be considered for the management of aquaculture ponds and shallow enclosed water bodies.

Inherent optical properties and satellite retrieval of chlorophyll concentration in the lagoon and open ocean waters of New Caledonia.

The retrieval of chlorophyll-a concentration from remote sensing reflectance (Rrs) data was tested with the NASA OC4v4 algorithm on the inner New Caledonian lagoon (Case 2) and adjacent open ocean (Case 1) waters. The input to OC4v4 was Rrs measured in situ or modeled from water's inherent optical properties (2001-2007). At open ocean stations, backscattering and absorption coefficients were correlated with chlorophyll (R(2)=0.31-0.51, respectively), in agreement with models for Case 1 waters. Taking spectrofluorometric measurement as reference, the OC4v4 model leads to an average underestimation of 33% of the chlorophyll concentration. For the lagoon waters, OC4v4 performed inadequately because the backscattering coefficient, highly correlated with turbidity and suspended matter (R(2)=0.98), was poorly correlated to chlorophyll (R(2)=0.42). The OC4v4 performance was better in deep lagoon waters for stations with a TDT index (Tchla x depth/turbidity) higher than 19 mg m(-2) NTU(-1) (R(2)=0.974, bias=10.2%). Global Imager Rrs provided a good estimate of Tchla (R(2)=0.79, N=28) in the deeper part of the lagoon.