Phytoplankton dynamics in and near the highly eutrophic Pearl River Estuary,South China Sea

The dynamics of size-fractionated phytoplankton along the salinity gradient in the Pearl River Estuary and the adjacent near-shore oceanic water was investigated using microscopic, flow cytometric, and chlorophyll analyses in the early spring (March) and early autumn (September) of 2005. In the inner part of the estuary where salinity was less than 30, the phytoplankton community was dominated by micro- and nano-sized (3–200 μm) cells, particularly the diatom Skeletonema costatum, both in early spring and early autumn. In areas where salinity >30, including the mixing zone and nearshore oceanic water, micro- and nano-sized cell populations dominated the phytoplankton assemblage during early spring when influence of river discharge was minimal, whereas pico-sized (≤3 μm) cell populations were dominant during early autumn as a result of strong river discharge in the summer, with Synechococcus and pico-eukaryotes being predominant. Picophytoplankton were two orders of magnitude more abundant in early autumn (10⁶ cells mL⁻¹) than in early spring in the nearshore oceanic water. Nutrients delivered by freshwater input to the estuary were pushed toward high salinity (>30) areas as a result of short residence time, exerting a strong influence on phytoplankton abundance, especially picophytoplankton in the nearshore, otherwise oligotrophic, water. Influenced by high abundance of DIN and limitation in phosphorus, picophytoplankton in the adjacent nearshore oceanic water rose to prominence seasonally. Our results indicate that eutrophication in the Pearl River Estuary not only stimulates the growth of S. costatum in the nutrient-rich areas of the estuary but also appears to promote the growth of Synechococcus and pico-eukaryotes in the adjacent usually oligotrophic oceanic water at least during our autumn cruise.     

Hydrodynamic conditions associated with the formation,maintenance and dissipation of a phytoplankton thin layer in a coastal upwelling system

During May–June 2005, a 17-d cruise was carried out in Ría de Pontevedra (Galician Rías Baixas) to study the physical–biological interactions that may lead to subsurface aggregations of phytoplankton organisms in thin layers (TLs). Physical processes governed the initiation and development, maintenance, and decline of a diatom (toxin producing Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and Chaetoceros socialis) TL during an upwelling relaxation-upwelling–downwelling sequence. Differences in shear profiles appeared to lead to the formation of a TL during upwelling events. These results reveal that the coupling between maximum values of shear and buoyancy frequency can shape a subsurface chlorophyll maximum (SCM) into a TL. The effect of shear upon phytoplankton patches, which has been predicted on the basis of theoretical studies, has been corroborated in this study in which the vertical distribution of an observed TL was controlled by physical processes.     

Calcium alginate immobilized marine microalgae: experiments on growth and short-term heavy metal accumulation

Growth of 11 calcium alginate immobilized marine microalgal species belonging to eight taxonomical groups has been checked in the present work. Cellular densities inside the calcium alginate beads were monitored during 17 days. Good growth and maintenance of the structure of the beads were both found for some of the assayed species. One of those species (Tetraselmis chui, Prasinophyceae) was selected in order to perform a short term (up to 24 h) heavy metal accumulation experiment. Beads of calcium alginate containing (or not) cells of T. chui were exposed to 820 μg L⁻¹ Cu and 870 μg L⁻¹ Cd separately during a 24 h period, and accumulation of heavy metals in the beads was measured after this time and compared. Concentration of each metal in the supernatants was monitored at 5, 10, 60 min and 24 h from the beginning of the experiment. After 24 h, practically all Cu was removed by the beads. Beads with immobilized algae removed around 20% of total Cd, while beads without algae removed half of that percentage.     

Phytoplankton estimation using plant primary production rates in streams

A new approach is proposed to simulate the daily variation of chlorophyll a in one-dimensional streams. This approach uses the plant primary production rate to quantify the phytoplankton growth rate. The delta method, which is a piecewise analytical solution technique, is applied to determine the diurnal variation in plant primary production rate. The approach is tested by applying it to the Gumsuck stream in the Kyonggi-Do province in Korea. The optimization technique with constraints is used to obtain the best running results. Application of this approach shows that the values calculated using the method presented here are in good agreement with the measured values. Therefore, we conclude that this technique realistically simulates the daily variation of chlorophyll a.     

Dinoflagellate cysts in recent marine sediments from Thermaikos Gulf, Greece: Effects of resuspension events on vertical cyst distribution

A qualitative and semi-quantitative study of recent dinoflagellate cysts has been undertaken in the NW part of Aegean Sea, Thermaikos Gulf (Eastern Mediteranean), before (September 2001), during (October 2001) and after 120 days (February 2002) of intensive trawling activities. This is the first survey of recent dinoflagellate cysts from Greek marine coastal environments. Sediment samples were collected with a corer and the vertical distribution of the cysts was studied at five different layers, from 0 to 10 cm. Dinoflagellate cysts were both abundant and diverse. Cysts were found over the whole sampling area and periods, with concentrations ranging between 247–3202 cysts cm⁻³. Thirty-six cyst types were encountered, of which 32 were identified to species level, representing 12 genera. It seems that significant local resuspension, related to the onset of the trawling period and stirring up of the sediment, contributed to mixing of the upper layers, resulting to more homogenous cyst profiles in the sediment. Viable cysts constituted 16–60% of the total cyst abundance. The abundance peaks of viable cysts within the subsurface sediment layers, observed during the undisturbed period, disappeared during October. In February, the reduction of cyst concentration was associated to a loss of viable cysts, whilst the ratio of viable/empty cysts ranged between 0.30 and 0.67. The abundance of the different dinoflagellate species, in their active form, was monitored in order to detect any relationship between the concentration of cysts in the top 10 cm of sediment and blooms of algae in the water column. Cysts of potentially toxic species, causing Paralitic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP), such as Alexandrium cf. tamarense, A. cf. affine, A. cf. minutum, as well as Gymnodinium catenatum, were detected in the cyst survey.     

浮游植物对湖泊水体生态重建的响应——以太湖五里湖大型围隔示范工程为例

根据太湖五里湖湾生态重建大型围隔示范工程的现场观测结果,分析了湖泊生态重建措施对浮游植物的影响,结果显示:(1)在生态重建的第一年,尽管生态重建区内种植了大量水生植物,水体氮磷含量也有较大幅度的下降,水体透明度也被提高了近一倍,但是藻类却大量生长,并暴发了蓝藻水华;第二年,生态重建区的环境条件逐渐对藻类(包括蓝藻和其中的微囊藻)产生了抑制作用,开始出现藻类生物量下降趋势;表明生态重建措施(以水生植被重建为中心的生态系统重建组合措施)可以在较短时间内(当年)建立起一定规模的水生植物群落,有效降低水体氮磷营养盐,提高水体透明度,但要在较短时间内(2年内)完善一个较大的水生态系统结构、有效降低藻类生物量(特别是夏季)有一定困难.(2)尽管氮磷营养盐对水体藻类总量增加有较大影响,但并不是蓝藻大量暴发的决定因素,上行作用力对蓝藻的控制(bottom-up effort)表现弱于下行作用力(top-down effort).(3)较低的TN/TP比值(15.9-35.6,平均30.5)既是蓝藻水华暴发的原因,也是其作用的结果,其可能有利于蓝藻的大量暴发.(4)生态重建措施较大幅度地改善了水环境,但并没有显著提高藻类多样性指数(Shannon index),因此,单凭藻类多样性指数并不能完全反映水环境改善状况,在评价水环境质量方面需要结合其它多种指标进行综合评估.     

寒区湿地春、夏浮游植物群落划分——以三江平原安邦河湿地为例

运用多元分析方法对安邦河湿地春、夏浮游植物群落进行划分,结果表明,两季节均可分为3个组群:(1)核心区组群,春季为绒毛平板藻.四角盘星藻群落,夏季为四角盘星藻群落;(2)边缘区组群,春季为梅尼小环藻-尖针杆藻群落,夏季为鱼腥藻-铜绿微囊藻.梅尼小环藻群落;(3)莲花池组群,春季为地中尖头藻群落,夏季为银灰平裂藻群落.各群落的种类组成、数量及多样性存在季节差异,与寒区环境因子季节变化相关.     

太湖梅梁湾口浮游植物初级生产力及其相关因素关系的研究

研究了太湖梅梁口1991年8月—1993年2月浮游植物初级生产力季节变化和垂直分布以及初级生产力与光、温、叶绿素、透明度之间的关系。结果表明,温度是影响初级生产力的主要因子。全年初级生产力主要集中在夏季（6—8月份）。水柱日毛生产量的更大值在7月份,达4.63g O_2/m~2·d;最小值在12月,仅为0.12g O_2/m~2·d。初级生产力的最适温度为25℃。根据室内模拟实验,它与温度之间拟合方程为:P=0.22θ_(25-r)。初级生产力还受可利用光的影响,最高初级生产力一般出现在透明度一半的水层。初级生产力与光辐射能之间的关系（T=18℃）为:P=0.162·(I/1.33)·exp(1-(I/1.33))+0.05。     

广东长潭水库富营养化与浮游植物分布特征

为掌握梅州市长潭水库富营养化状态与浮游植物分布特征,为控制藻类水华暴发提供科学依据,2011年10月至2012年7月,在长潭水库关键断面选取10个监测点,测定水体理化特征、浮游植物种类、丰度等指标,采用营养状态指数(TLI)和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数法对水质污染现状进行评价,并分析浮游植物类群分布特征.结果表明:长潭水库水体富营养状态在4、10和12月处于中营养级,7月份处于富营养级,营养指数从库区中游上游逐渐降低;观测期间共检出浮游植物4门11科16属,通过丰度比较,发现长潭水库以蓝绿藻为优势种,并且季节变化明显,总体表现为7月 >4月 >10月 >12月;藻类多样性指数分析显示,水库水体污染水平为中度,中游和库区(除7月)为轻度污染,与综合营养指数结果一致;长潭水库污染源调查分析结果表明,该水库主要为氮、磷污染,污染源主要为上游禽畜养殖废水.     

基于浮游植物流式细胞仪对胶州湾春季浮游植物的研究

本文基于浮游植物流式细胞仪Cyto Sub对2014年春季胶州湾浮游植物功能群组成及其与环境因子的关系开展研究。Cyto Sub共检测出6个浮游植物类群,分别是聚球藻、微微型真核浮游植物、隐藻、微型单细胞藻、小型单细胞藻和链状藻。多元统计分析显示胶州湾春季浮游植物可划分为两个群落,群落1主要由湾外站位组成,浮游植物生物量浓度为15.15μg/L(以碳含量计,以下同),以小型单细胞藻、链状藻和微型单细胞藻为主;群落2主要由湾内站位组成,浮游植物生物量浓度为72.83μg/L,以链状藻为主。胶州湾的优势类群为链状藻,其丰度与水温和营养盐浓度呈显著正相关关系。与其他浮游植物粒级研究方法的比较表明,当调查海域优势种为小粒径的链状藻时,该方法能够快速、准确地测量出各个浮游植物类群的粒径参数,从而推算出浮游植物群落的粒级结构。