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Picophytoplankton community dynamics in a tropical river estuary and adjacent semi-enclosed water body

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Abstract

The dynamics of picophytoplankton, a vital component of the aquatic microbial food web, are least explored in the river-dominated estuaries, especially those subjected to human modifications that can alter the hydrodynamics and the biota. Here, picophytoplankton community dynamics was assessed seasonally and spatially in the tropical monsoon-influenced Hooghly River estuary and an adjacent semi-enclosed dock. We hypothesized that the seasonal and spatial picophytoplankton community structure and abundance would be controlled by synergistic effects of the environmental and hydrographic factors with different responses in the semi-enclosed water body compared to the flowing estuary. The relatively lower turbidity and higher water transparency suggest that the dock's water residence time was relatively longer than the estuary due to its semi-enclosed nature. A phycocyanin-rich Synechococcus group dominated the community seasonally and spatially throughout the study region, with the highest population during the pre-monsoon. The higher water temperature, salinity, transparency, and residence time were the supporting factors. During the warm monsoon season, the relatively lower abundance of the phycocyanin-rich Synechococcus group despite the high nutrient concentrations implied impairment of growth due to high turbidity, low light availability, and residence time. However, the relatively higher salinity, water transparency, lower turbidity due to a longer residence time failed to stimulate the picophytoplankton during the cooler post-monsoon, suggesting temperature as the main controlling factor. Seasonal introduction of phycoerythrin-rich Synechococcus and two other picocyanobacteria (freshwater Microcystis and Cyanobium like) groups ensued from the open sea and river, respectively, due to varying hydrodynamics. The presence of the latter picocyanobacteria group during non-monsoon indicates higher salinity tolerance. Among the two zones, the higher abundance of picophytoplankton in the dock implies the stimulatory effect of the relatively higher water transparency, longer residence time, and enhanced resource utilization capabilities. A synergistic role of environmental parameters and hydrodynamics becomes apparent from these observations, thereby supporting the hypothesis.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank The Director, National Institute of Oceanography (CSIR), for his support. We thank Dr. Imchen T. for the immense support and suggestions during sampling. We also thank Dr. S.S. Sawant and Mr. Venkat K. for their support and guidance. We thank the other project team members for their help during sampling. We gratefully acknowledge the project assistants (BAMPI) for the analysis of environmental parameters. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments. This work was supported by the Ballast Water Management Programme India, funded by Directorate General of Shipping, Government of India. This is a NIO contribution (no. 6765).

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  1. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa, 403004, India

    Smita Mitbavkar, Aseem R. Rath & Arga Chandrashekar Anil

  2. School of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Goa University, Taleigao Plateau, Goa, 403206, India

    Aseem R. Rath

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27_2021_813_MOESM1_ESM.pdf

Spatial distribution of temperature (a), salinity (b), dissolved oxygen (c), biological oxygen demand (d), and chlorophyll a (e) (pooled values of surface and near-bottom waters) during monsoon-I, post-monsoon, monsoon-II and pre-monsoon in the dock and Hooghly River estuary of the Haldia dock complex. Vertical lines indicate standard deviation values (PDF 31 KB)

27_2021_813_MOESM2_ESM.pdf

Spatial distribution of nitrate (a), nitrite (b), ammonium (c), phosphate (d), and silicate (e) (pooled values of surface and near-bottom waters) during monsoon-I, post-monsoon, monsoon-II, and pre-monsoon in the dock and Hooghly River estuary of the Haldia dock complex. Vertical lines indicate standard deviation values (PDF 32 KB)

27_2021_813_MOESM3_ESM.pdf

Spatial distribution (x 102 cells mL-1) of Picophytoplankton (a), Synechococcus-PE (b), Synechococcus-PC I (c), Synechococcus-PC II (d), Picocyanobacteria-I (e), Picocyanobacteria-II (f), Picoeukaryotes-I (g), Picoeukaryotes-II (h), and Picoeukaryotes-III (i) (pooled values of surface and near-bottom waters) during monsoon-I, post-monsoon, monsoon-II and pre-monsoon in the dock and Hooghly River estuary of the Haldia dock complex. Vertical lines indicate standard deviation values (PDF 50 KB)

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Mitbavkar, S., Rath, A.R. & Anil, A.C. Picophytoplankton community dynamics in a tropical river estuary and adjacent semi-enclosed water body. Aquat Sci 83, 61 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00027-021-00813-8

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