Pigment concentration data for mesocosm incubation experiment simulating a phytoplankton bloom in Chesapeake Bay August 2021

Three 20-L carboys were filled with filtered bay water, inoculated with surface water and sampled daily for a week.

Nutrient concentrations, nitrate and bicarbonate uptake rates, pigment concentrations and samples for 18S rRNA gene sequence analysis were collected once or more times per day. 15NO3- and H13CO3- tracer incubations were performed alongside pigment and DNA sampling to compare temporal trends in community composition and primary productivity (nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) transport rates). These results address the nature of phytoplankton blooms, and present a more complex relationship between bloom progression and phytoplankton diversity that usually assumed or detected by traditional methods.