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Phytoplankton composition and its ecological effect in subsurface cold pool of the northern Bering Sea in summer as revealed by HPLC derived pigment signatures

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Abstract

CHEMTAX analysis of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) pigment was conducted to study phytoplankton community structure in the northern Bering Sea shelf, where a seasonal subsurface cold pool emerges. The results showed that fucoxanthin (Fuco) and chlorophyll a (Chl a) were the most abundant diagnostic pigments, with the integrated water column values ranging from 141 to 2 160 μg/m2 and 477 to 5 535 μg/m2, respectively. Moreover, a diatom bloom was identified at Sta. BB06 with the standing stock of Fuco up to 9 214 μg/m3. The results of CHEMTAX suggested that the phytoplankton community in the northern Bering Sea shelf was dominated by diatoms and chrysophytes with an average relative contribution to Chl a of 80% and 12%, respectively, followed by chlorophytes, dinoflagellates, and cryptophytes. Diatoms were the absolutely dominant algae in the subsurface cold pool with a relative contribution exceeding 90%, while the contribution of chrysophytes was generally higher in oligotrophic upper water. Additionally, the presence of a cold pool would tend to favor accumulation of diatom biomass and a bloom that occurred beneath the halocline would be beneficial to organic matter sinks, which suggests that a large part of the phytoplankton biomass would settle to the seabed and support a rich benthic biomass.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemistry, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Yanpei Zhuang, Haiyan Jin, Hongliang Li, Jianfang Chen, Bin Wang, Youcheng Bai, Yong Lu & Shichao Tian

  2. State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Haiyan Jin & Jianfang Chen

  3. College of Ocean and Meteorology, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang, 524088, China

    Fajin Chen

Authors
  1. Yanpei Zhuang
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  2. Haiyan Jin
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  3. Hongliang Li
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  4. Jianfang Chen
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  5. Bin Wang
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  6. Fajin Chen
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  7. Youcheng Bai
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  8. Yong Lu
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  9. Shichao Tian
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Correspondence to Haiyan Jin.

Additional information

Foundation item: The National Natural Science Foundation of China under contract Nos 41276198, 41076135 and 41003036; the Scientific Research Fund of Second Institute of Oceanography, SOA under contract Nos JG1323 and JG1023; the Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation and Assessment Programs under contract Nos 20130403 and 20130304.

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Zhuang, Y., Jin, H., Li, H. et al. Phytoplankton composition and its ecological effect in subsurface cold pool of the northern Bering Sea in summer as revealed by HPLC derived pigment signatures. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 33, 103–111 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-014-0495-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-014-0495-5

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