A New Plankton Sampler for Coral Reefs

Abstract. A new self-contained Horizontal Plankton Sampler (HOPLASA) collects near-reef plankton that is not captured by conventional net tows and emergence traps. An electrical motor-propeller assembly inside a large acrylic cylinder drives water past an in-line flowmeter and through a rigidly attached plankton net. When positioned in the coral reef environment this sampling gear filters known quantities of bottom water. Larvae and developmental stages of many invertebrates and some fishes that never migrate to upper water layers but constitute an important fraction of the food chain are captured. Larvae of sponges, corals, and gorgonians, the most important animal reef builders, are obtained live and undamaged and can be cultured in the laboratory for identification after metamorphosis.     

A Novel Mechanical Gas-Tight Sampler for Hydrothermal Fluids

A new mechanical gas-tight sampler has been designed to collect hydrothermal fluids at the seafloor. A key feature of the sampler is the novel sample valve which is pressure balanced under deep sea, and actuated by the ram on a submersible's manipulator. The sampler is designed to be deployed at the seafloor 3000 m underwater and can be used to sample hydrothermal fluid with temperature up to 400degC. Compressed gas is used to compensate for pressure reduction of sample fluids. Simulation of the flow system was conducted to estimate the fill rate. The sampler has been tested successfully in the first Sino-American Cooperative Deep Submergence Project from August 13 to September 3, 2005.     

A Remotely Operated Serial Sampler for Collecting Gas-Tight Fluid Samples

This paper describes the design, construction and preliminary test results for a gas-tight serial sampler intended to be deployed at seafloor for long-term operation to take time-series fluid samples from deep-sea environments such as cold seeps, water column and hydrothermal vents. The serial sampler is a modular system that is based on independent and identical sampling modules, which are designed to collect six 160 ml gas-tight fluid samples maintained at high pressure to a depth of 4000 meters. With two working modes, the sampler can be deployed either with seafloor cabled observatory for remote control or as a stand-alone device for autonomous operation. A prototype of the instrument has been constructed and tested on the MARS cabled observatory for two months. The laboratory and field tests proved the success of the design and construction of the serial sampler, and indicated the potential for future ocean sciences.     

浮游生物图像现场拍摄

利用“水下全自动数字显微成像仪”拍摄了水中的浮游生物图像,介绍了仪器性能和拍摄结果,并对仪器用于赤潮预测预报的可能性作了探讨。     

The Continuous Plankton Recorder: concepts and history, from Plankton Indicator to undulating recorders

Alister Hardy conceived the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey in the 1920s as a means of mapping near-surface plankton in space and time, interpreting the changing fortunes of the fisheries and relating plankton changes to hydrometeorology and climatic change. The seed he planted has grown to become the most extensive long-term survey of marine organisms in the world and the breadth of his vision becomes ever more apparent. The survey has now run for over 70 years and its value increases with every passing decade. Operating from ‘ships of opportunity’ the machines used are robust, reliable and easy to handle. Wherever possible, all the sampling and analytical methods have not been changed to maintain the consistency of the time series. Computerisation and the development of new statistical approaches have increased our ability to handle the large quantities of information generated and enhance the sensitivity of the data analyses. This overview, based on almost 900 papers, recounts the various phases in the history of the survey. It starts with the Indicator Survey (1921–1934), the deployment of the first CPR on the Discovery Expedition (1924–1927) and the early CPR survey in the North Sea (1931–1939). The survey reopened in 1946 after the Second World War and expanded across the North Atlantic to North America from 1959. Taxonomic studies were initiated and an emphasis was placed on patterns of distribution, which were seen to reflect the varying oceanographic conditions. The years 1968–1976 saw further expansion with operations even in the American Great Lakes, publication of a Plankton Atlas and initial evidence for a downward trend in plankton biomass. At about this time electronic instrumentation was attached to CPRs to make additional measurements and work was started on the development of a new generation of undulating Continuous Plankton and Environmental Recorders (CPERs). In 1976 the survey moved to Plymouth. Scientific priorities in the UK changed in the subsequent decade and funding became more difficult to secure even though some of the CPR papers being published at the time are now regarded as classics in plankton ecology. In 1988 the UK Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) decided to close the survey. An international rescue operation led to the creation of the Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science (SAHFOS) in 1990, which has continued with consortium funding from a number of countries, and from 1999 again included NERC. The scientific rationale of the survey has gained credibility as concern over climate change and other anthropogenic effects has grown and as the key role that plankton plays as an indicator of large-scale environmental conditions becomes ever more apparent. Recently, the survey became an integral component of the Global Ocean Observation System (GOOS) and expanded into the North Pacific. It plays a complementary role in many large international and multidisciplinary projects and is providing inspiration, advice and support to daughter surveys elsewhere in the world. At the start of a new millennium, Hardy’s vision from the 1920s is a powerful driving force not just in international biological oceanography, but in global environmental science.     

高精度CTD采水器控制系统的设计与分析

本系统是国家“８６３”任务中８１８－０２Ａ项目的重要组成部 和高精度ＣＴＤ测量仪联用,可以完成任意深度、任意时刻的采水控制功能,它采用国内外最新的技术和元器件,打破了原有的采水控制装置的设计思想,使采水器的动作完全合理准确。本文重点介绍其工作原理和关键技术。     

Plankton communities of the South Atlantic anticyclonic gyre

Data collected during cruises of the Former Soviet Union (in 1963–1989) and the British Atlantic meridional transect program (in 1995–1999) were used to analyse macroscale patterns in phyto- and zooplankton biomass, size structure, species diversity, chlorophyll a, and plankton bioluminescence in the macroscale anticyclonic gyre of the South Atlantic Ocean. The spatial pattern of bioluminescence intensity was in good agreement with that of remotely sensed (CZCS) chlorophyll a, phosphate, salinity, and copepod species diversity index distributions especially in terms of geographic inclinations of the isolines, both associated with the north-westward pattern off the South equatorial current. Among the 416 copepod species recorded in samples, 51 species were noted throughout the whole gyre. On the other hand, there were a number of species found only in one of the currents. The mesozooplankton biomass size spectra (calculated in carbon units), exhibited a fairly stable slope of the curve from the eastern periphery of the gyre to its centre. The British Atlantic meridional transect program meridional transect through the western part of the gyre showed mesozooplankton size spectra in greater detail between the equator and 50° S. Although the spectra change slowly along the transect as far as 36° S, there is a general trend toward increasing slopes from the equatorial region to the oligotrophic central gyre. The calculated phyto-to-zooplankton ratio indicated that for the tropical anticyclonic gyres, the mesozooplankton carbon biomass could be represented as the exponential function of the phytoplankton carbon.     

Seasonality of Plankton Assemblages in a Temperate Estuary

Abstract. Synoptic measurements of temperature, salinity, nutrients, primary productivity, chlorophyll a, and abundance and composition of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and ichthyoplank-ton were made over an annual cycle on the Peconic Bay estuary (Long Island, New York, USA). There were pronounced seasonal fluctuations in all variables measured. During the warmer season, the plankton was dominated by nanophytoplankton (athecate microflagellates and chlorophytes, short chains of diatoms), small zooplankton (copepod nauplii, copepodites, and adults of small copepod species) and gelatinous carnivores (ctenophores and medusae). During the colder season, the plankton was dominated (in terms of primary productivity and chlorophyll a) by netplankton, larger zooplankton (adult copepods) and fish larvae. The winter bloom of apparent netplankton (> 20 μm fraction) was largely an artifact of the screening method employed, in that long chains of a diatom with small individual cell size (Skeletonema costatum) comprised 84.4–97.8% of the phytoplankton present. There was a significant negative relationship over the year between length of diatom chains and number of smaller zooplankton. For this reason, as well as initiation of the winter bloom during a period of declining levels of both light and zooplankton, inception of the bloom appeared more related to release of zooplankton grazing pressure than to illumination. Temporally offset pulses of ctenophores and other zooplankton during the warmer season suggest substantial predation by ctenophores. Apparent decimation of copepod populations by ctenophore predation in late summer and fall immediately preceeded inception of the winter diatom bloom. Larval Ammodytes americanus were the dominant ichthyoplankton, and these co-occurred in winter with increased abundances of larger adult copepods of species upon which A. americanus is known to feed. With certain modifications the patterns recorded for Peconic Bay corresponded to both of two generalized trophic pathways proposed by Greve & Parsons (1977) for temperate waters: nanoplankton → small zooplankton → gelatinous zooplankton carnivores or netplankton → larger zooplankton → young fish. The former pattern characterized the warmer season, and the latter the colder season. Comparison of patterns in Peconic Bay with those in some other temperate estuarine and coastal waters suggests similarity, particularly for estuaries of the northeastern United States.     

Plankton metabolic balance at two North Atlantic seamounts

We have studied the epipelagic (0–100 m) metabolic balance between gross and net community production (P_g, P_n) and community respiration (R_d) around two seamounts (Seine: 34°N, 14°W; Sedlo: 40°N, 27°W) located in the subtropical northeast Atlantic. We looked for local effects causing seamounts to increase community production and/or community respiration with respect to the surrounding open ocean. Comparatively, Seine presented similar average living plankton biomass—chlorophyll a (Chl) and particulate proteins (Pt)—but higher P_g, due to higher R_d, presumably the result of organic matter loading from the NW Africa upwelling system, as supported by field results and satellite imagery. Nevertheless, the large temporal and spatial variability at each seamount make the average differences non-significant. Temporal variability in P, R_d and Chl was evident around the two seamounts. Sedlo showed higher R_d, Chl and Pt during winter, but higher P_n in summer. Seine presented higher Pt, Chl and P_n during spring, but higher R_d in summer. On average, the metabolic balance was heterotrophic (R_d>P_g) during all the sampling periods and at most stations of the two seamounts. Both Sedlo and Seine, showed higher R_d with respect to average values reported for the global ocean. A clear seamount effect on phytoplankton was only observed in Seine during spring, when Chl and Pt were enhanced at the summit of the seamount. Our results suggest that, rather than increasing primary production significantly, the two seamounts could act as trapping mechanisms for organic matter, favoured by the development of Taylor Columns on the top of the seamounts. Nevertheless these effects seem to be of a lower magnitude than changes caused by temporal or regional variability, questioning the role of these seamounts as hot-spots of productivity in the oceans.     

Resting Stages of Plankton in Recent North Adriatic Sediments

Abstract. Plankton-derived resting stages were found in 26 sediment cores collected in the North Adriatic Sea; 46 morphotypes were identified, 38 were attributed to taxa according to their morphology and, in some hatching cases, also according to the morphology of the derived active forms. Six species of Dinophyta were recorded for the first time from the North Adriatic Sea. Each morphotype was described in detail. Twenty-nine resting stages were Dinophyta; one was a Chrysophyta; two were Tintinnina; and six were metazoans. At every site Dinophyta cysts were more abundant than Metazoa cysts. Cyst bank densities were variable, with empty forms generally more abundant than full ones; cyst concentrations were highest at the mouth of the Po River delta.     

Development of the Southern Ocean Continuous Plankton Recorder survey

The Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) Type I was first used in Antarctic waters during the 1925–1927 Discovery Expedition, and has been used successfully for 70 years to monitor plankton in the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean. Sixty-five years later the CPR as a Type II version returned to Antarctic waters when the Australian Antarctic Division initiated a survey of the Southern Ocean on RSV Aurora Australis south of Australia and west to Mawson. The objectives are to study regional, seasonal, interannual and long-term variability in zooplankton abundance, species composition and community patterns, as well as the annual abundance and distribution of krill larvae. The survey covers a large area from 60°E to 160°E, and south from about 48°S to the Antarctic coast—an area of more than 14 million km². Tows are conducted throughout the shipping season, normally September to April, but occasionally as early as July (midwinter). The large areal and temporal scale means that it is difficult to separate temporal and geographical variation in the data. Hence, CPRs are now also towed on the Japanese icebreaker Shirase in collaboration with the Japanese Antarctic programme. Shirase has a fixed route and time schedule, travelling south on 110°E in early December and north on 150°E in mid-March each year, and will serve as an important temporal reference for measuring long-term interannual variability and to help interpret the Australian data. Since 1991, over 90 tows have been made, providing over 36,000 nautical miles of records. The most successful seasons to date have been the 1997/1998, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001 austral summers with 20, 31 and 26 tows, respectively. The 1999/2000 season included a unique, nearly simultaneous three-ship crossing of the Southern Ocean along 25° 30’E, 110°E and 157°E. Typical CPR tows show very high abundance of zooplankton in the uppermost 20 m of the permanently open ocean zone between the sea-ice zone and the Sub-Antarctic Front; this is an area thought to be oligotrophic. Appendicularians and small calanoid and cyclopoid copepods dominate the plankton. By comparison the surface waters of the sea-ice zone have low species diversity and abundances. Zooplankton data, and hence distribution patterns, can be time- and geo-coded to GPS data and environmental data collected by the ships’ underway monitoring system (e.g. fluorescence, water temperature, salinity, and meteorological data).     

浮游生态系统非线性动力学研究

建立了新的藻类-浮游动物生态非线性动力学模型,该模型考虑了藻类与浮游动物之间的增长关系。研究了模型平衡点的稳定性,以及Hop f分岔现象。通过对选取的分岔参数进行分析,揭示了该系统的动力学特性。