Spatial variability in the primary productivity in the East China Sea and its adjacent waters

Primary productivity in the East China Sea and its adjacent area was measured by the¹³C tracer method during winter, summer and fall in 1993 and 1994. The depth-integrated primary productivity in the Kuroshio Current ranged from 220 to 350 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹, and showed little seasonal variability. High primary productivity (above 570 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹) was measured at the center of the continental shelf throughout the observation period. The productivity at the station nearest to the Changjiang estuary exhibited a distinctive seasonal change from 68 to 1,500 mgC m⁻²d⁻¹. Depth-integrated primary productivity was 2.7 times higher in the shelf area than the rates at the Kuroshio Current. High chlorophyll-a specific productivity (mgC mgChl.-a⁻²d⁻¹) throughout the euphotic zone was mainly found in the shelf area rather than off-shelf area, probably due to higher nutrient availability and higher activity of phytoplankton at the subsurface layer in the shelf area.     

Oceanic iron fertilization: one of strategies for sequestration atmospheric CO2

Carbon cycle is connected with the most important environmental issue of Global Change.As one of the major carbon reservoirs, oceans play an important part in the carbon cycle. In recent years, iron seems to give us a good news that oceanic iron fertilization could stimulate biological productivity as CO2 sink of human-produced CO2. Oceanic iron fertilization experiments have verified that adding iron into high nutrient low chlorophyll (HNLC) seawaters can increase phytoplankton production and export organic carbon, and hence increase carbon sink of anthropogenic CO2, to reduce global warming. In sixty days, the export organic carbon could reach 10 000 times for adding iron by model prediction and in situ experiment, i.e. the atmospheric CO2 uptake and inorganic carbon drawdown in upper seawaters also have the same magnitude. Therefore, oceanic iron fertilization is one of the strategies for increasing carbon sink of anthropogenic CO2. The paper is focused on the iron fertilization, especially in situ o     

The Ectoparasitic Gastropod Boonea (= Odostomia) impressa: Population Ecology and the Influence of Parasitism on Oyster Growth Rates

Abstract. Boonea (= Odostomia) impressa is a common ectoparasite of oysters. In the laboratory, small oysters (Crassostrea virginica) parasitized by natural densities of B. impressa produced 75 % less new shell than unparasitized oysters. Shell deposition rates of previously parasitized oysters increased significantly after all B. impressa were removed. Thus, the decrease in growth rate, although significant, apparently was not permanent. B. impressa preferentially parasitized small, living oysters (≤2.5cm) in the field, even though a higher percentage of large, living oysters (>2.5cm) was available. The snails maintained an aggregated distribution on the oyster reef. The number of B. impressa per oyster clump was positively correlated with the number of living oysters per clump, however some clumps with few or no living oysters had many B. impressa. Thus, food availability only partially explained the pattern of distribution. B. impressa was very mobile. About 50 % of the population moved in one week. Reproduction occurred throughout the year with a peak period in May. Recruitment was greatest in July, however new recruits were observed throughout the year. The reduction in growth rate of parasitized oysters, the snaiľs propensity towards parasitizing small oysters and the snail's tendency to be contagiously distributed suggests that B. impressa potentially exerts a significant influence on the population structure and health of oyster populations.     

Simulations of Annual Cycle of Phytoplankton Production and the Utilization of Nitrogen in the Yellow Sea

A nutrient dynamic model coupled with a 3D physical model has been developed to study the annual cycle of phytoplankton production in the Yellow Sea. The biological model involves interactions between inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and ammonium), phosphate and phytoplankton biomass. The model successfully reproduces the main features of phytoplankton-nutrient variation and dynamics of production. 1. The well-mixed coastal water is characterized by high primary production, as well as high new production. 2. In summer, the convergence of tidal front is an important hydrodynamic process, which contributes to high biomass at frontal areas. 3. The evolution of phytoplankton blooms and thermocline in the central region demonstrate that mixing is a dominant factor to the production in the Yellow Sea. In this simulation, nitrate- and ammonium-based productions are estimated regionally and temporally. The northern Yellow Sea is one of the highly ranked regions in the Yellow Sea for the capability of fixing carbon and nitrogen. The annual averaged f-ratio of 0.37 indicates that regenerated production prevails over the Yellow Sea. The result also shows that phosphate is the major nutrient, limiting phytoplankton growth throughout the year and it can be an indicator to predict the bloom magnitude. Finally, the relative roles of external nutrient sources have been evaluated, and benthic fluxes might play a significant role in compensating 54.6% of new nitrogen for new production consumption.     

A modelling study of ecosystem dynamics and nutrient cycling in the Humber plume, UK

The European Regional Seas Ecosystem Model (ERSEM) has been coupled with a two-dimensional depth-averaged transport model of the Humber plume region and run to simulate 1988–1989. Simulations of the spatial and temporal variations in chlorophyll-a, nitrate, phosphate and suspended particulate matter distributions in winter, spring and summer show how the development of the spring bloom and subsequent maintenance of primary production is controlled by the physicochemical environment of the plume zone. Results are also shown for two stations, one characterised by the high nutrient and suspended matter concentrations of the plume and the other by the relatively low nutrient and sediment concentrations of the offshore waters. The modelled net primary production at the plume site was 105 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ and 127 g C m⁻² a⁻¹ offshore. Primary production was controlled by light limitation between October and March and by the availability of nutrients during the rest of the year. The phytoplankton nutrient demand is met by in-situ recycling processes during the summer. The likely effect of increasing and decreasing anthropogenic riverine inputs of nitrate and phosphate upon ecosystem function was also investigated. Modelling experiments indicate that increasing the nitrogen to silicate ratio in freshwater inputs increased the production of non-siliceous phytoplankton in the plume. The results of this model have been used to calculate the annual and quarterly mass balances describing the usage of inorganic nitrogen, phosphate and silicate within the plume zone for the period of the NERC North Sea survey (September 1988 to October 1989). The modelled Humber plume retains 3.9% of the freshwater dissolved inorganic nitrogen, 2.2% of the freshwater phosphate and 1.3% of the freshwater silicate input over the simulated seasonal cycle. The remainder is transported into the southern North Sea in either dissolved or particulate form. The reliability of these results is discussed.     

秦山核电站邻近水域浮游植物的生态研究

本文分析了秦山核电站邻近水域生态零点调查四个航次的浮游植物样品,结果表明:调查区浮游植物的种数和细胞密度在时间尺度上均存在明显的季节变化趋势:夏大于秋大于春大于冬,并且与环境因子的变化密切相关,其中最主要的影响因子是温度、盐度和径流,而影响日变化的环境因子主要是潮汐。     

The influence of hydrography on the distribution of phytoplankton in the southern Taiwan Strait

During the period August 1985 to May 1986, phytoplankton in the southern Taiwan Strait was collected and studied for distributional variability in relation to hydrography. The results indicated that maximum standing crops of phytoplankton occurred in October and May due to the outgrowth of certain species of diatoms and blue-green algae. The majority of phytoplankton appeared in the water in the top 25 m and occurred in distinct clusters under the influence of water movement. Multivariate analysis indicated that hydrographic parameters, which accounted for the variability of phytoplankton distribution, varied seasonally. Vertical, spatial and temporal variabilities were also apparent. The close relationship between hydrography and algal distribution justifies the use of variations in the phytoplankton population as a useful tracer of water movement.