Seasonal and inter-annual variability in phytoplankton over a 22-year period in a tropical coastal region in the southwestern Atlantic Ocean

摘要: Abstract Plankton time-series studies are necessary to improve our understanding of changes in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Nevertheless, coastal tropical and sub-tropical regions long-term data series scarce, especially the Southern Hemisphere. Thus, present study aims at identifying factors controlling plankton variability different temporal scales a ecosystem Brazil between 1987 2009. Three sampling stations were visited monthly Ilha Grande Bay, meso-oligotrophic Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, define seasonal inter-annual chlorophyll (Chla) nanoplankton microphytoplankton abundances, main factors. Salinity, water temperature, Secchi disk depth inorganic nutrient concentrations also measured. The dataset from three did not show significant differences for most measured variables; considered replicates. mean annual Chla values