Nano-and microphytoplankton community characteristics in brown tide bloom-prone waters of the Qinhuangdao coast,Bohai Sea, China

• Published in: Science China. Earth sciences Vol. 60; no. 6; pp. 1189 - 1200
• Main Authors: Xu, Xin, Yu, ZhiMing, He, LiYan, Cheng, FangJin, Cao, XiHua, Song, XiuXian
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Beijing Science China Press 01.06.2017; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Abundance; Algae; Ammonium nitrogen; Autumn; Availability; Bacillariophyceae; Biodiversity; Brown tides; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll a; Coastal waters; Coasts; Communities; Community structure; Concentration (composition); Diatoms; Dinoflagellata; Dinoflagellates; Diversity indices; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecological succession; Microorganisms; Microscopy; Mineral nutrients; Nanostructure; New records; Nitrogen; Nutrient availability; Outbreaks; Phytoplankton; Plankton; Plankton blooms; Research Paper; Seed banks; Species composition; Species diversity; Spring (season); Summer; Temperature effects; Tidal waves; Tides; Water; Water temperature; Winter; 叶绿素a; 植物群落特征; 水域; 浮游植物群落; 海岸; 硅藻丰度; 秦皇岛海域; 赤潮; Bohai Sea; Size fractions; Phytoplankton community; Species composition; Qinhuangdao coast; Cell abundance; Canonical correspondence analysis
• ISSN: 1674-7313; 1869-1897
• DOI: 10.1007/s11430-017-9036-0

Since 2009, the newly recorded species Aureococcus anophagefferens has successively induced brown tides in the Qinhuangdao coastal waters of the Bohai Sea. Here, we focus on the phytoplankton community structure in this region and try to point out the biological background characteristics of the outbreaks of successive brown tides. We analyzed species composition,cell abundance, diversity indices and size-fractionated chlorophyll a（Chl-a） concentration monthly from March 2013 to January2014. The phytoplankton community, as observed by microscopy, underwent succession from nano-celled chained diatoms to dinoflagellates in the spring and summer, and then to micro-celled diatoms and nano-celled chained diatoms as the most prominent groups in the subsequent autumn and winter. Canonical correspondence analysis revealed that changes in the abundance of diatoms were related to nutrient availability, especially of nitrogen, while water temperature was the crucial factor influencing the abundance of dinoflagellates and A. anophagefferens. Considering the contribution of nano-celled chained species to the micro-sized Chl-a,small phytoplankton（〈20 μm） composed the majority of total Chl-a and were generally abundant during our study. Abundant and diverse small phytoplankton seemed to serve as a background or seedbank for the formation of blooms of A. anophagefferens and other small-celled algae.