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Ecological responses of autotrophic microplankton to the eutrophication of the coastal upwelling along the Southwest coast of India

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Abstract

The primary ecological effects of the eutrophication of upwelling in the nearshore waters are the triggering and sustenance of phytoplankton (diatom) blooms. Here, we present the changes in the morphological characteristics and body size of microautotrophs associated with the nutrient enrichment of coastal upwelling along the southwest coast of India. The FlowCAM data of microautotrophs representing two time series locations in the coastal environment along the southwest coast of India at 18 weekly/biweekly frequencies showed the following features. The most significant response of the microautotrophs to the eutrophication associated with coastal upwelling during the Southwest Monsoon (June–September) was an increase in their mean bio-volume, either by increasing the individual cell size or by forming large colonies. During the Southwest Monsoon, large colonies of Thalassiosira (~ 8 cells/colony), Thalassionema (> 16 cells/colony), and Asterionellopsis (> 8 cells/colony) become very abundant. Streptotheca formed large mat-like colonies (av. 192350 ± 348 μm3/individual), and Fragilariopsis grew as very long ribbons (av. 272997 ± 5071 μm3/individual). Large-sized Chaetoceros (av. 45715 ± 1273 μm3/individual) with longer setae were also plentiful during the Southwest Monsoon. All these changes in the morphology and life forms of microautotrophs would help them to rapidly assimilate nitrate under turbulent conditions during the Southwest Monsoon.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the former and the present Directors of CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), India, for the facilities. We are thankful to all colleagues in CSIR-NIO and ICAR-CMFRI, India, who were a part of the Alappuzha Mudbank Process Studies. Karnan thanks CSIR-India for the CSIR-JRF research fellowship during the study period. This is a CSIR-NIO contribution 6611.

Availability of data and materials

The data sets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request through the Director, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, or the Scientist-in-Charge, Regional Centre Kochi.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Kochi, India

    Jyothibabu Retnamma, Karnan Chinnadurai, Jagadeesan Loganathan, Arunpandi Nagarathinam, Parthasarathi Singaram & Albin Konnakkamannil Jose

  2. CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Regional Centre, Visakhapatnam, India

    Jagadeesan Loganathan

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  1. Jyothibabu Retnamma
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  2. Karnan Chinnadurai
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  3. Jagadeesan Loganathan
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  4. Arunpandi Nagarathinam
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  5. Parthasarathi Singaram
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  6. Albin Konnakkamannil Jose
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Contributions

Jyothibabu, R.: conceptualisation, investigation, writing—original draft; supervision and funding acquisition; project administration

Karnan, C.: conceptualisation, investigation; visualisation, formal analysis

Jagadeesan, L.: conceptualisation, investigation, visualisation, formal analysis

Arunpandi, N.: investigation, visualisation

Parthasarathi, S: investigation; visualisation

Albin K Jose: investigation; visualisation

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Correspondence to Jyothibabu Retnamma.

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Retnamma, J., Chinnadurai, K., Loganathan, J. et al. Ecological responses of autotrophic microplankton to the eutrophication of the coastal upwelling along the Southwest coast of India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 11401–11414 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11354-2

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