Water-mass control on phytoplankton spatiotemporal variations in the northeastern East China Sea and the western Tsushima Strait revealed by lipid biomarkers.

Bi, Rong, Chen, Xi, Zhang, Jing, Ishizaka, Joji, Zhuang, Yanpei, Jin, Haiyan, Zhang, Hailong and Zhao, Meixun (2018) Water-mass control on phytoplankton spatiotemporal variations in the northeastern East China Sea and the western Tsushima Strait revealed by lipid biomarkers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, 123 (4). pp. 1318-1332. DOI 10.1002/2017JG004340.

[thumbnail of Bi_et_al-2017-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Biogeosciences.pdf] Text
Bi_et_al-2017-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Biogeosciences.pdf - Accepted Version
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (2MB) | Contact
[thumbnail of jgrg21022-sup-0001-2017JG004340_ts01.docx] Text
jgrg21022-sup-0001-2017JG004340_ts01.docx - Supplemental Material
Restricted to Registered users only

Download (67kB) | Contact

Supplementary data:

Abstract

Continental margin ecosystems in the western North Pacific Ocean are subject to strong climate forcing and anthropogenic impacts. To evaluate mechanisms controlling phytoplankton biomass and community structure variations in marginal sea‐open ocean boundary regions, brassicasterol, dinosterol and C37 alkenones were measured in suspended particles in summer and autumn from 2012 to 2013 in the northeastern East China Sea and the western Tsushima Strait (NEECS‐WTS). In summer, the concentrations of brassicasterol (40 ‐ 1535 ng L‐1) and dinosterol (4.2 ‐ 94 ng L‐1) were higher in the southwest of Cheju Island, while C37 alkenones (0 ‐ 30 ng L‐1) were higher in the south of Cheju Island. In autumn, brassicasterol (12 ‐ 106 ng L‐1), dinosterol (2.4 ‐ 21 ng L‐1) and C37 alkenones (0.7 – 7.0 ng L‐1) were higher in the southwest of Cheju Island and the WTS, and higher C37 alkenones also occurred in the Okinawa Trough. Correlation analysis of biomarkers and environmental conditions (temperature, salinity and inorganic nutrient concentrations) clearly demonstrated that phytoplankton biomass and community structure variations can be well elucidated by water masses as indexed by temperature and salinity. High nutrients from the Changjiang River were the main cause of high biomass in summer, while nutrients from subsurface water were likely the key factor regulating phytoplankton biomass in open ocean water stations in autumn. This study indicates that mechanisms controlling phytoplankton biomass in marginal sea‐open ocean boundary regions should be classified by various water masses with different nutrient concentrations, instead of by geography.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Phytoplankton biomass; Community structure; Biomarkers; Water masses; East China Sea; Tsushima Strait
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: AGU (American Geophysical Union), Wiley
Date Deposited: 03 Apr 2018 08:50
Last Modified: 02 Jan 2020 12:13
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/42557

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item