Cite this paper:
Qi ZHONG, Bing XUE, Md Abu NOMAN, Yuqiu WEI, Haijiao LIU, Hongbin LIU, Liping ZHENG, Hongmei JING, Jun SUN. Effect of river plume on phytoplankton community structure in Zhujiang River estuary[J]. Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, 2021, 39(2): 550-565

Effect of river plume on phytoplankton community structure in Zhujiang River estuary
Qi ZHONG1, Bing XUE2, Md Abu NOMAN2,3, Yuqiu WEI1, Haijiao LIU1, Hongbin LIU4, Liping ZHENG5, Hongmei JING5, Jun SUN2,3
1 Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266200, China;
2 Research Centre for Indian Ocean Ecosystem, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China;
3 Tianjin Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Chemistry, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China;
4 Department of Ocean Science and Division of Life Science, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 999077, China;
5 Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Sanya 572000, China
Abstract:
To examine the phytoplankton assemblages and the effect of diluted waters on them, a research cruise was conducted from July 19 to August 7, 2015 in the Zhujiang (Pearl) River estuary in the northern South China Sea (21°N-23.5°N, 111°E-117°E). Samples were collected from 65 stations including one for time-series sampling. A total of 212 phytoplankton taxa were identified from 61 genera belonging to 4 phyla. Among them, 122 species identified from 42 genera of Bacillariophyta and 83 species from 15 genera of Pyrrophyta. Chain-forming diatoms dominated the phytoplankton community where Pseudo-nitzschia delicatissima, Guinardia striata, Thalassionema nitzschioides, and P. pungens comprised about 52% of the total abundance. However, higher cell abundances concentrated on both sides of the estuary, because of low salinity and high nutrients brought by diluted water. In addition, Canonical Correspondence Analysis revealed that salinity and dissolved inorganic nitrogen shaped the species composition in the study area. Furthermore, the Jaccard similarity index showed prevailing high similarity in the distribution of species in low-salinity diluted waters, and the Bray-Curtis similarity depicted distinguished grouping for phytoplankton assemblages along the salinity gradient. However, phytoplankton diel vertical cycles showed maximum abundance occurred at 2:00 am, which was mainly contributed by benthic phytoplankton species Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and T. nitzschioides.
Key words:    phytoplankton    Canonical Correspondence Analysis    diel cycle    Zhujiang (Pearl) River estuary   
Received: 2019-08-23   Revised: 2019-10-16
Jun SUN,E-mail:phytoplankton@163.com
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Articles by Qi ZHONG
Articles by Bing XUE
Articles by Md Abu NOMAN
Articles by Yuqiu WEI
Articles by Haijiao LIU
Articles by Hongbin LIU
Articles by Liping ZHENG
Articles by Hongmei JING
Articles by Jun SUN
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