Characteristics of ecological structure and spatial distribution of micro-plankton in relation to water masses in the northern East China Sea (nECS) in summer 2019
Yoon, Y.H.; Park, J.H.; Lee, H.J.; Soh, H.Y. (2020). Characteristics of ecological structure and spatial distribution of micro-plankton in relation to water masses in the northern East China Sea (nECS) in summer 2019. Korean J. Environ. Biol. 38(3): 355-370. https://dx.doi.org/10.11626/kjeb.2020.38.3.355
In: Korean Journal of Environmental Biology. Korean Society of Environmental Biology: Seoul. ISSN 1226-9999, meer
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| Trefwoord |
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| Author keywords |
water masses , Chinese Coastal Waters (CCW) , Tsushima Warm Current (TWC) , phytoplankton community , ciliates , microbial loop , top-down and bottom-up system , ecological structure , nECS |
| Auteurs | | Top |
- Yoon, Y.H.
- Park, J.H.
- Lee, H.J.
- Soh, H.Y.
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| Abstract |
We conducted a field survey to analyze the ecological structure and spatial distribution of microplankton (phytoplankton and ciliates) in relation to water masses at 21 stations on the surface and chlorophyll-a maximum layers (CML) in the Northern East China Sea (nECS; 32°-33°N; 124°00’-127°30’E) from August 3 to August 6, 2019. The results showed that the water masses were divided into Chinese Coastal Waters (CCW) and the Tsushima Warm Current (TWC). The CCW showed the environmental characteristics of high temperature and low salinity, and the TWC showed high temperature and high salinity. The characteristics of the phytoplankton community in the CCW showed various community structures related to the nutrients supplied from the large rivers of the Chinese continent. However, the TWC had simple community structures because it originated near the equator and moved northward. The standing crops of phytoplankton and ciliates were very high in the CCW but showed low at the TWC. In particular, from the higher standing crops of protozoa than plant plankton at the TWC, the energy flow at the lower tropic levels caused by the microbial loop that fed on heterotrophic bacteria played an important role in the production of resource organisms. In other words, the marine ecological structure of the nECS in summer could be estimated as a bottom-up system at the CCW and a top-down system at the TWC. |
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