Studies on marine heterotrophic protists in Masan Bay, Korea

Abstract

In Korea the study of marine heterotrophic protists started in the late 1980s, and since the early 1990s many studies have been conducted in various marine environments. In this article, studies on the distribution and abundance of protists and the biotic interactions (bacteria-protists, phytoplankton-protists) conducted in Korean coastal waters are reviewed, and a field study is reported and discussed. The field study in Masan Bay was carried out from February 2004 to November 2005 at seven selected stations representative of the bay. During the study, the mean abundance of heterotrophic bacteria and the mean concentration of chlorophyll-a were 2.1 × 10 6 cells mL -1 and 9.8 μg L -1 , respectively. Heterotrophic protists consisted of heterotrophic dinoflagellates, heterotrophic nanoflagellates (excluding dinoflagellates) and ciliates, and their abundances were means of 7.9 × 10 4 cells L -1 , 1.2 × 10 3 cells mL -1 , and 4.0 × 10 4 cells L -1 , respectively. Generally, the chlorophyll-a concentrations and the abundances of heterotrophic bacteria and protists were higher in the inner zone of the bay, where there are high concentrations of organic matters, than in the middle and outer zones. Using the grazing rates of heterotrophic nanoflagellates on bacteria previously reported in this area, it can be calculated that about 69% of bacterial producton was removed by HNF grazing activity. About 24% of initial chlorophyll-a concentration was removed by microzooplankton grazing activity. In conclusion, this study suggests that in Masan Bay heterotrophic protists control the growth of bacteria and phytoplankton, and heterotrophic protists represent an important link of bacterial & microalgal biomass to higher trophic levels.