Effects of nutrient property changes on summer phytoplankton community structure of jangmok bay

Abstract

Phytoplankton production is affected by various physico-chemical factors of environment. However, one of the most critical factors generally accepted as controlling primary production of phytoplankton is nutrients. It has recently been found that the succession of phytoplankton groups and species are closely related to the chemical properties of ambient water including nutrient limitation and their ratios. In Jangmok Bay, silicate and nitrate are primarily supplied by rainfall, while phosphate and ammonia are supplied by wind stress. Typhoons are associated with rainfall and strong wind stress, and when typhoons pass through the South Sea, such events may induce phytoplankton blooms. When nutrients were supplied by heavy rainfalls during the rainy season and by summer typhoons in Jangmok Bay, the dominant taxa among the phytoplankton groups were found to change successively with time. The dominant taxon was changed from diatoms to flagellates immediately after the episodic seasonal events, but returned to diatoms within 3~10 days. Pseudo-nitzschia spp. were dominant mainly in the presence of low phosphate levels during the first of the survey which included the rainy season, while Skeletonema costatum was dominant when phosphate concentrations were high due to the strong wind stress during the latter half of the survey as a result of the typhoon. The competition between S. costatum and Chaetoceros spp. appeared to be regulated by the silicate concentration. S. costatum preferred high silicate and phosphate concentrations; however, Chaetoceros spp. were able to endure low silicate concentrations. These results implied that, in coastal ecosystems, the input patterns of each nutrient supplied by rainfall and/or wind stress appeared to contribute to the summer succession of phytoplankton groups and species.