Nutritional status and pigment composition of phytoplankton during spring and summer Phaeocystis blooms in Dutch coastal waters (Marsdiep area)
Riegman, R.; Rowe, A. (1994). Nutritional status and pigment composition of phytoplankton during spring and summer Phaeocystis blooms in Dutch coastal waters (Marsdiep area). Neth. J. Sea Res. 32(1): 13-21
In: Netherlands Journal of Sea Research. Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ): Groningen; Den Burg. ISSN 0077-7579; e-ISSN 1873-1406, meer
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| Abstract |
The general nutritional status and pigment composition of the phytoplankton population during the 1991 spring and summer Phaeocystis blooms in Dutch coastal waters was analysed using the 480/665 m absorption ratio of 90% acetone extracts as well as reverse-phase HPLC-pigment analysis. A 100% increase in this ratio was indicative of moderate nutrient deficiency at the end of the Phaeocystis spring bloom in the Marsdiep area. During the summer, nitrate was more likely to be the limiting nutrient than phosphate. Both physiological adaptation and species composition were found to influence the absorption ratio. Variations in the absorption ratio did not completely reflect the variations in fucoxanthin and chlorophyll a. Therefore it was concluded that besides nutrient limitation dynamics, the variable abundances of in particular chlorophyll-c3 containing species (such as Prymnesiophyceae) may affect the absorption ratio. |
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