The study aimed to estimate the total oxygen flow through the shallow littoral of the Gulf of Gdańsk (southern Baltic Sea). Daily primary production and daily oxygen consumption by meso- and macroplankton and meio- and macrobenthos were measured, as well as the remaining (abiotic/microbial) oxygen consumption of the water column and bottom sediment. The daily gross primary production was 5.0 l of oxygen m(-2), oxygen consumption was 9.2 l m(-2), of which 16% were used by the water column and 84% by the bottom sediment. Abiotic oxygen consumption in water column contributed to less than 5% of the total oxygen consumption, and in the bottom sediment to 67%. Mesoplankton in the water column and meiobenthos in the bottom sediments were the major oxygen consumers in the littoral (67% and 26%, respectively).
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