Moderate effect of damming the Romaine River (Quebec, Canada) on coastal plankton dynamics

SENNEVILLE, SIMON; SCHLOSS, IRENE R.; ST-ONGE DROUIN, SIMON; BÉLANGER, SIMON; WINKLER, GESCHE; DUMONT, DANY; JOHNSTON, PATRICIA; ST-ONGE, ISABELLE

ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE

ACADEMIC PRESS LTD-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018 vol. 203 p. 29 - 43

0272-7714

Rivers? damming disrupts the seasonal cycle of freshwater and nutrient inputs into the marine system,which can lead to changes in coastal plankton dynamics. Here we use a 3-D 5-km resolution coupled biophysical model and downscale it to a 400-m resolution to simulate the effect of damming the Romaine River in Quebec, Canada, which discharges on average 327m3 s1 of freshwater into thenorthern Gulf of St. Lawrence. Model results are compared with environmental data obtained from 2 buoys and in situ sampling near the Romaine River mouth during the 2013 spring summer period.Noteworthy improvements are made to the light attenuation parametrization and the trophic links of the biogeochemical model. The modelled variables reproduced most of the observed levels of variability. Comparisons between natural and regulated discharge simulation show differences in primary production and in the dominance of plankton groups in the Romaine River plume. The maximum increase in primary production when averaged over the inner part of Mingan Archipelago is 41%, but 7.1% when the primary production anomaly is averaged from March to September.