Premium
Accumulation of a pheophorbide a‐like pigment in sediment traps during late stages of a spring bloom: A product of dying algae?
Author(s) -
Head E. J. H.,
Hargrave B. T.,
Subba Rao D. V.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1994.39.1.0176
Subject(s) - pheophorbide a , chlorophyll a , algae , bloom , algal bloom , sediment trap , zooplankton , spring bloom , copepod , pigment , sediment , chlorophyll , phytoplankton , water column , chemistry , oceanography , botany , biology , geology , fishery , ecology , nutrient , crustacean , paleontology , organic chemistry
We examined the concentration and composition of pigments in material collected in a sediment trap array that collected samples over 14 sequential 4‐d periods covering a spring bloom which was dominated by diatoms. Pyropheophorbide a , a chlorophyll a derivative known to be produced by copepod grazing, accumulated in traps in similar amounts throughout the bloom period. A second more polar a ‐type pheophorbide accumulated only during late stages of the bloom, in amounts comparable with those of chlorophyll a (+ isomers) and higher than those of pyropheophorbide a . This pheophorbide was spectrally and chromatographically very similar to a pheophorbide a ‐like pigment that has been attributed elsewhere to dying Phaeocystis . Previously, pheopigments in the water column and in sediment traps have been considered products of zooplankton grazing, but dead or dying phytoplankton may contribute significantly to both pools.