Schuchert, PiaKregting, LouisePritchard, DanielSavidge, GrahamElsasser, Bjorn2021-06-112021-06-112018-05-22Schuchert, P., Kregting, L., Pritchard, D., Savidge, G. and Elsäßer, B. (2018) ‘Using Coupled Hydrodynamic Biogeochemical Models to Predict the Effects of Tidal Turbine Arrays on Phytoplankton Dynamics’, Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 6(2), p. 58. doi: 10.3390/jmse6020058.2077-1312https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse602005817 May Publication history: Accepted - 17 May 2018; Published online - 22 May 2018The effects of large scale tidal energy device (TED) arrays on phytoplankton processes owing to the changes in hydrodynamic flows are unknown. Coupled two-dimensional biogeochemical and hydrodynamic models offer the opportunity to predict potential effects of large scale TED arrays on the local and regional phytoplankton dynamics in coastal and inshore environments. Using MIKE 21 Software by DHI (https://www.dhigroup.com), coupled two-dimensional biogeochemical and hydrodynamic models were developed with simulations including no turbines or an array of 55 turbines with four solar radiation scenarios to assess the temporal and spatial changes of phytoplankton dynamics in an idealised domain. Results suggest that the effect of TEDs on phytoplankton dynamics accounted for up to 25% of the variability in phytoplankton concentrations, most likely associated with an increased residence time in an inshore basin. However, natural variation, such as the intensity of photosynthetically active radiation, had a larger effect on phytoplankton dynamics than an array of TEDsen© 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).hydrokineticnutrientsirradiancetemperatureenvironmenttransportArticle