Seasonal variations in the phytoplankton community and the relationship between environmental factors of the sea around Xiaoheishan Island in China

Seasonal variations in the phytoplankton community and the relationship between environmental factors of the sea area around Xiaoheishan Island are investigated in the present study. Xiaoheishan Island is located at 37°58′14″N and 120°38′46″E in Shandong Province, China. A total of 65 species of phytoplankton belonging to three phyla and 27 genera were identified, with Bacillariophyta having the largest number of species. The annual average chlorophyll a concentration for this area was 3.11 μg/L, and there occurs a Skeletonema costatum bloom in winter. The Shannon-Weaver indexes (log₂) of the phytoplankton from all stations were higher than 1, and the Pielou indexes were all higher than 0.3. The results of the canonical correspondence analysis (CCA) indicated that water temperature, PO ₄ ^3- and Cu were the environmental factors that had the greatest influence on the distribution of the phytoplankton community throughout the entire year. Although the concentration of heavy metal is well up to the state standards of the first grade of China (GB 3097-1997), these metals still have an impact on the phytoplankton community from this area.