title: Georges Bank: a leaky incubator ofAlexandrium fundyenseblooms.
abstract: A series of oceanographic surveys on Georges Bank document variability of populations of the toxic dinoflagellateAlexandrium fundyenseon time scales ranging from synoptic to seasonal to interannual. Blooms ofA. fundyenseon Georges Bank can reach concentrations on the order of 104cells l-1, and are generally bank-wide in extent. Georges Bank populations ofA. fundyenseappear to be quasi-independent of those in the adjacent coastal Gulf of Maine, insofar as they occupy a hydrographic niche that is colder and saltier than their coastal counterparts. In contrast to coastal populations that rely on abundant resting cysts for bloom initiation, very few cysts are present in the sediments on Georges Bank. Bloom dynamics must therefore be largely controlled by the balance between growth and mortality processes, which are at present largely unknown for this population. Based on correlations between cell abundance and nutrient distributions, ammonium appears to be an important source of nitrogen forA. fundyenseblooms on Georges Bank.
authors: Department of Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
authors: D J
authors: DJ
authors: McGillicuddy
authors: School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
authors: D W
authors: DW
authors: Townsend
authors: Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
authors: B A
authors: BA
authors: Keafer
authors: School of Marine Sciences, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA.
authors: M A
authors: MA
authors: Thomas
authors: Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA.
authors: D M
authors: DM
authors: Anderson
keywords: Georges Bank; Gulf of Maine; Paralytic shellfish poisoning; Phytoplankton; Population dynamics; Red tides; USA