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Dynamics of phytoplankton and picoplankton over a tidal cycle in a subtropical lagoon

  • Article
  • Ecology
  • Published:
Chinese Science Bulletin

Abstract

The influences of a tidal cycle on the distribution of autotrophic plankton were investigated in a hyper-eutrophic lagoon designated as a scenic area. Results showed that the highest concentrations of picoplankton and phytoplankton were found in the middle and inner part of the lagoon, irrespective of the tides. The MDS result also revealed that phytoplankton communities, dominated by Ceratium furca, were similar among stations in the inner bay during both flood tides and ebb tides. The time series sampling results at the inlet-outlet channel revealed that almost the same amounts of phytoplankton and picoplankton were carried through the channel during flood and ebb tides, with no trend in nutrient fluctuations except for phosphate which had a net loss from the lagoon. The results showed that tidal cycles do not effectively flush away phytoplankton and picoplankton from the lagoon, and the blooming of phyto- and picoplankton is inevitable should the situation stay the same. Steps are needed to alleviate the eutrophication condition instead of depending on the natural process such as tidal cycle.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Museum of Marine Biology & Aquarium, Pingtung, 94450, Taiwan, China

    Kwee Siong Tew, Pei-Jie Meng, Jimmy Kuo & Wei-Rung Chou

  2. Institute of Marine Biodiversity & Evolution, Dong Hwa University, Pingtung, 94450, Taiwan, China

    Kwee Siong Tew, Pei-Jie Meng & Yi-Xiu Ye

  3. Taiwan Ocean University, Keelung, 202-24, Taiwan, China

    Hung-Jen Lee

  4. Institute of Marine Biotechnology, Dong-Hwa University, Pingtung, 94450, Taiwan, China

    Jimmy Kuo

  5. Cheng Shiu University, Kaohsiung County, 833, Taiwan, China

    Lee-Shing Fang

Authors
  1. Kwee Siong Tew
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  2. Pei-Jie Meng
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  3. Hung-Jen Lee
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  4. Yi-Xiu Ye
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  5. Jimmy Kuo
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  6. Lee-Shing Fang
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  7. Wei-Rung Chou
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Correspondence to Kwee Siong Tew or Pei-Jie Meng.

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Tew, K.S., Meng, PJ., Lee, HJ. et al. Dynamics of phytoplankton and picoplankton over a tidal cycle in a subtropical lagoon. Chin. Sci. Bull. 55, 2522–2528 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-4107-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-010-4107-2

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