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Physicochemical conditions in affecting the distribution of spring phytoplankton community

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Abstract

To better understand the physicochemical conditions in affecting regional distribution of phytoplankton community, one research cruise was carried out in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea during 3rd and 23th May, 2010. The phytoplankton community, including Bacillariophyta (105 taxa), Pyrrophyta (54 taxa), Chrysophyta (1 taxon) and Chlorophyta (2 taxa), had been identified and clearly described from six ecological provinces. And, the six ecological provinces were partitioned based on the top twenty dominant species related with notable physicochemical parameters. In general, the regional distributions of phytoplankton ecological provinces were predominantly influenced by the physicochemical properties induced by the variable water masses and circulations. The predominant diatoms in most of water samples showed well adaptability in turbulent and eutrophic conditions. However, several species of dinoflagellates e.g., Protoperidinium conicum, Protoperidinium triestinum, Protoperidinium sp. and Gymnodinium lohmanni preferred warmer, saltier and nutrient-poor environment. Moreover, the dinoflagellates with high frequency in the Yellow Sea might be transported from the Yellow Sea Warm Current. The horizontal distribution of phytoplankton was depicted by diatoms and controlled by phosphate concentration, while the vertical distribution was mainly supported by light and nutrients availability in the subsurface and bottom layers, respectively.

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Acknowledgement

We thank JIN Hualong for sampling, and the crew and captain of the RV/Dongfanghong 2 for logistic support during the cruise.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Marine and Environmental Sciences, Tianjin University of science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Yuqiu Wei  (魏玉秋), Xiaodong Zhang  (张晓东), Bing Xue  (薛冰), Sonia Munir & Jun Sun  (孙军)

  2. Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Yuqiu Wei  (魏玉秋), Xiaodong Zhang  (张晓东), Bing Xue  (薛冰), Sonia Munir & Jun Sun  (孙军)

  3. Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Jinan, 250110, China

    Haijiao Liu  (刘海娇)

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  1. Yuqiu Wei  (魏玉秋)
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  2. Haijiao Liu  (刘海娇)
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  6. Jun Sun  (孙军)
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Correspondence to Jun Sun  (孙军).

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Supported by the National Key Scientific Research Program (No. 2015CB954002), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41276124, 41676112), the University Innovation Team Training Program for Tianjin (No. TD12-5003), and the Cheung Kong Scholars Program and of China and Exploration Program of Ocean with Science and Technology of Tianjin (KJXH2013-22) to Jun Sun

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Wei, Y., Liu, H., Zhang, X. et al. Physicochemical conditions in affecting the distribution of spring phytoplankton community. Chin. J. Ocean. Limnol. 35, 1342–1361 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-017-6190-6

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