[Chemical and biological data post-hurricane Ian] - Chemical and biological data collected for surface and bottom samples from all five stations along the transect from Charlotte Harbor to offshore in southwest Florida over the four sampling periods post-hurricane Ian during 2023-2024 (RAPID: Collaborative Research: Unprecedented Hurricane Ian Nutrient and Organic Matter Inputs to Southwest Florida Coastal Waters)

This RAPID project, a collaboration between C. Heil and E. Hall (Mote Marine Laboratory) and P. Glibert and M. Li (University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science), examined the overarching hypothesis that the massive terrestrial inorganic and organic carbon and nutrient inputs to the southwest Florida coastal and shelf region from Hurricane Ian were priming this oligotrophic system for extensive phytoplankton blooms as well as significant changes in carbon chemistry and nutrient cycling that will lead to longer term regional hypoxia and anoxia.

We measured a suite of water quality, carbon and nutrient parameters, as well as carbon and nutrient cycling at stations in Charlotte Harbor and the adjacent inner West Florida Shelf (WFS) system over four sampling efforts (May 2023, August 2023, September 2023, and October 2024) to examine how fast changes and recovery occurs in this system and the relationship of these hurricane inputs to hypoxia, anoxia, and ocean acidification.