Distributions of size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity in northern South China Sea during the winter of 2009

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1001-909X.2017.03.008

Abstract

Abstract: Size-fractionated chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a) and primary production (PP) of phytoplankton in the northern South China Sea (nSCS) were investigated during the winter of 2009. The results showed that Chl a and PP had obviously spatial variation in the nSCS. The water column integrated average values of Chl a varied from 0.11 to 8.37 mg/m³, the average value was (1.28±2.23) mg/m³, and decreased from the coastal zone to the open sea. The lowest and highest value of PP were 344.8 mgC/(m²·d) and 1 222.5 mgC/(m²·d), respectively, with the high value appearing in the coastal zone and continental shelf. The result of size-fractionated Chl a showed that microplankton (Net-Chl a) was greater contributor (about 40.9%) to phytoplankton stocks in the eutrophic coastal zone and the proportions of nanoplankton (Nano-Chl a) and picoplankton (Pico-Chl a) were 34.6% and 24.5%; while in the oligotrophic continental shelf and open sea, the contributions of three size-fractionated Chl a from greatest to least in order were Pico-Chl a (78.9%), Nano-Chl a (17.2%) and Net-Chl a (3.9%). Relevant analysis results showed that the regional distributions of Chl a were closely related to the nutrient dynamics driven by the ocean currents; meanwhile the distributions of Chl a drastically affected the distributions of PP as well. Furthermore, compared P^B_opt in situ with that estimated by the depth-resolved model for carbon fixation (VGPM), it was found that the later were less than the former obviously, and this indicated that the underestimated value of P^B_opt through temperature might be exited in nSCS.

Key words: winter, northern South China Sea, phytoplankton standing stock, primary production, size structure

CLC Number:

Q178.53

ZENG Xiang-xi, LE Feng-feng, ZHOU Wen-li, CAI Yu-ming, HAO Qiang. Distributions of size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity in northern South China Sea during the winter of 2009[J]. Journal of Marine Sciences, 2017, 35(3): 67-78.

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