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Standing stock and dynamics of picophytoplankton in the Thau Lagoon (northwest Mediterranean coast)
Author(s) -
Vaquer André,
Troussellier Marc,
Courties Claude,
Bibent Bertrand
Publication year - 1996
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.1996.41.8.1821
Subject(s) - phytoplankton , oceanography , dominance (genetics) , abundance (ecology) , shellfish , ecology , mediterranean sea , mediterranean climate , biology , environmental science , oyster , nutrient , fishery , aquatic animal , fish <actinopterygii> , geology , biochemistry , gene
Eucaryotic picophytoplankton (PEUC), picocyanobacteria, and larger phytoplanktonic cells from the Thau Lagoon (northwest Mediterranean coast) were numbered by flow cytometry from November 1991 to February 1994. PEUC cells dominated the phytoplanktonic assemblage and exhibited seasonal dynamics. Monthly mean abundances of larger phytoplanktonic cell and PEUC were significantly correlated with temperature and solar irradiance values, with the highest correlations having been obtained for PEUC abundances. The mean abundance of total picophytoplankton (3.5 × 10 4 cells ml ‒1 ) was among the highest recorded in marine waters. The dominance of picophytoplankton over larger phytoplanktonic cells (average abundance, 5 × 10 3 cells ml ‒1 ) in the nutrient‐rich waters of the lagoon was related to grazing from large‐scale shellfish breeding (oyster’s ≈35,000 t), which seems to act preferentially on the largest cells. Several hypotheses, including the potential selective effect of copper, were proposed to explain the dominance of the PEUC form (average abundance, 3.4 × 10 4 cells ml ‒1 ).