Open AccessNovel method for quantifying the cell size of marine phytoplankton based on optical measurements
Author(s) -
JinHong Lin,
Wenxi Cao,
Wen Zhou,
Zhan-Li Sun,
Ziqian Xu,
Guifen Wang,
Shuibo Hu
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.010467
Subject(s) - phytoplankton , cell size , environmental science , pelagic zone , remote sensing , oceanography , ecology , nutrient , biology , geology , microbiology and biotechnology
Phytoplankton size is important for the pelagic food web and oceanic ecosystems. However, the size of phytoplankton is difficult to quantify because of methodological constraints. To address this limitation, we have exploited the phytoplankton package effect to develop a new method for estimating the mean cell size of individual phytoplankton populations. This method was validated using a data set that contained simultaneous measurements of phytoplankton absorption and cell size distributions from 13 phytoplankton species. Comparing with existing methods, our method is more efficient with good accuracy, and it could potentially be applied in current in situ optical instruments.