The contribution of picophytoplankton to community structure in a Mediterranean brackish environment |
| |
Authors: | Caroppo Carmela |
| |
Institution: | Istituto Sperimentale Talassografico A. Cerruti', Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Roma, 3 74100 Taranto, Italy |
| |
Abstract: | The seasonal composition of phytoplankton communities was investigatedin a Mediterranean brackish area (Varano lagoon). Twelve stationswere sampled monthly from March 1997 to February 1998. Numbersof prokaryotic and eukaryotic picophytoplankton cells were estimatedby epifluorescence microscopy, while larger phytoplankton (nanoand micro fractions) were enumerated by the Utermöhl settlingtechnique. Picophytoplankton densities ranged from 0.7 to 448.6cells x 106 l1. Nano- and microphytoplankton abundancesvaried between 0.2 and 7.9 cells x 106 l1. The picoplanktonfraction was represented mainly by cyanobacteria and the Utermöhlfraction by nano-sized phytoflagellates (56.2%) and diatoms(20.1%). The phytoflagellates had a greater abundance over timewhile diatoms reached the highest densities in summer and fall.In Varano lagoon, phytoplankton development is related to nitrogen-poor'waters and to phosphorus availability. Suspension-feeding bivalves(Mytilus galloprovincialis) are sufficiently abundant to filtera volume equivalent to the volume of Varano lagoon at leastonce daily. These observations suggest that grazing exerts animportant influence on phytoplankton dynamics, mainly on themicro fraction, and that diatoms seem to play an important rolein the food web dynamics of this coastal fishery. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 Oxford 等数据库收录! |
|