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Chlorophyll “a” content in cells of Antarctic phytoplankton

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Abstract

Material was collected from the Weddell Sea and the Bransfield Strait in January/April 1989. Data on size-taxonomic composition and biomass of phytoplankton communities and Ch1 concentration were obtained to estimate the chlorophyll “a” (Ch1) cell content. Single cell fluorescence measured microscopically was used as a relative index of cellular Ch1 content of individual species. The relationship between the species composition of the algal communities and the ratio of phytoplankton carbon∶Ch1 concentration (C∶Ch1) was found. Due to changes in species composition the average C∶Ch1 ratio in March/April (56) was half that in January/February (115). The C∶Ch1 ratio ranged from 24 to 215 (mean=101) in the upper mixed layer and from 14 to 69 (mean=37) in the pycnocline region. The distribution of cellular Ch1 within individual species showed lower heterogeneity in the mixed layer in comparison with that in the pycnocline and below. Below the mixed layer, populations consisted partly of dead cells with very low pigment content, while other cells had greatly increased cellular Ch1. At several stations this cellular Ch1 increase led to the formation of a deep Ch1 maximum.

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  1. P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, 1172851, Moscow, Krasikova 23, Russia

    Alexander S. Mikaelyan & Galina A. Belyaeva

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  1. Alexander S. Mikaelyan
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  2. Galina A. Belyaeva
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Mikaelyan, A.S., Belyaeva, G.A. Chlorophyll “a” content in cells of Antarctic phytoplankton. Polar Biol 15, 437–445 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239721

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239721

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