Carbon biomass, carbon-to-chlorophyll a ratio and the growth rate of phytoplankton in Jiaozhou Bay, China

• Published in: Journal of oceanology and limnology Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 1328 - 1342
• Main Authors: Guo, Shujin, Zhao, Zengxia, Liang, Junhua, Du, Juan, Sun, Xiaoxia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Heidelberg Science Press 01.07.2021; Springer Nature B.V; Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science,Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology(Qingdao),Qingdao 266237,China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Qingdao 266071,China%Jiaozhou Bay National Marine Ecosystem Research Station,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Qingdao 266071,China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences,Beijing 100049,China; Jiaozhou Bay National Marine Ecosystem Research Station,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Qingdao 266071,China; Center for Ocean Mega-Science,Chinese Academy of Sciences,Qingdao 266071,China
• Subjects: Biomass; Carbon; Cells; Chlorophyll; Chlorophyll a; Cruises; Diatoms; Dinoflagellates; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Ecology; Ecosystem models; Environment models; Food chains; Food webs; Growth rate; Oceanography; Organic carbon; Particulate organic carbon; Phytoplankton; Plankton; Silicates; Water analysis; Water sampling; China; Jiaozhou Bay; growth rates; Jiaozhou Bay; phytoplankton; C:Chl; carbon-to-chlorophyll; carbon biomass; ratio; carbon-to-chlorophyll a (C?Chl a) ratio
• ISSN: 2096-5508; 2523-3521
• DOI: 10.1007/s00343-020-0234-z

Carbon biomass, carbon-to-chlorophyll a ratio (C:Chl a ), and the growth rate of phytoplankton cells were studied during four seasonal cruises in 2017 and 2018 in Jiaozhou Bay, China. Water samples were collected from 12 stations, and phytoplankton carbon biomass (phyto-C) was estimated from microscope-measured cell volumes. The phyto-C ranged from 5.05 to 78.52 µg C/L in the bay, and it constituted a mean of 38.16% of the total particulate organic carbon in the bay. High phyto-C values appeared mostly in the northern or northeastern bay. Diatom carbon was predominant during all four cruises. Dinoflagellate carbon contributed much less (<30%) to the total phyto-C, and high values appeared often in the outer bay. The C:Chl a of phytoplankton cells varied from 11.50 to 61.45 (mean 31.66), and high values appeared in the outer bay during all four seasons. The phyto-C was also used to calculate the intrinsic growth rates of phytoplankton cells in the bay, and phytoplankton growth rates ranged from 0.56 to 1.96/d; the rate was highest in summer (mean 1.79/d), followed by that in fall (mean 1.24/d) and spring (mean 1.17/d), and the rate was lowest in winter (mean 0.77/d). Temperature and silicate concentration were found to be the determining factors of phytoplankton growth rates in the bay. To our knowledge, this study is the first report on phytoplankton carbon biomass and C:Chl a based on water samples in Jiaozhou Bay, and it will provide useful information for studies on carbon-based food web calculations and carbon-based ecosystem models in the bay.