Phosphorus might limit the growth of phytoplankton in the South China Sea / 磷可能限制南海浮游植物成長

碩士 / 國立中山大學 / 海洋生物研究所 / 92 / Abstract

This research was conducted to understand whether phosphorus limits the phytoplankton production in the South China Sea (SCS). In the nutrient enrichment experiments nitrate and phosphate were supplemented to surface sea water and the enhancement of chlorophyll a concentration during incubation was observed. Seasonal field survey was conducted to measure ambient abundance of phosphorus including phosphate (SRP) and dissolve organic phosphorus (DOP), as well as alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) in the nautral sea water in the contiential shelf and basin of the SCS.

Except at the contiential shelf in summer and the mouth of Zhu Jiang River in fall, the nutrient concentration of surface water was low in the SCS. The average﹝NO3+NO2﹞was 20 nM (fall) - 360 nM (winter ). The average SRP concentration was 16 nM (fall) - 87 nM (winter). The average DOP concentration was 0.08 μM (summer)- 0.25 μM (winter). The ﹝NO3+NO2﹞/ SRP ratio was smaller than the Redfield N/P ratio of 16. The average chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a) was 0.13 μg l-1 (summer) - 0.48 μg l-1 (winter). The average concentration of the particlulate organic carbon (POC) was 4.58 μM (spring) - 8.11 μM (winter). The average APA was 16 n mol l-1 h-1 (fall) - 87 n mol l-1h-1 (winter). The average of APA/Chl a was 33.94 n mol μg -1 h-1 (winter) - 97.22 n mol μg -1 h-1 (spring).

The results of the enrichment experiment show that the phosphorus deficiency was observed on the contiential shelf in the summer of 2001 and at the mouth of Zhu Jiang in the fall of 2002. The common characteristics of the phosphorus deficient regions were low salinity (29.90- 30.87 psu ), high﹝NO3+NO2﹞(1.31 - 3.01 μM) , and a ﹝NO3+NO2﹞/ SRP ratio higher than 16. Chl a increased significantly (p<0.05) by the enrichments of phosphorus. In spring and winter when all regions were N-limited, N enrichment significantly (p<0.05) increased Chl a. In fall, all the contiential shelf region except the mouth of Zhu Jiang River, the slope and basin regions were NP co-limited. The Bashi Strait in summer was also NP co-limited.

P-limitation that was seen in the contiential shelf SCS and at Zhu Jiang River mouth, was probably caused by the influence of river discharge. N/P, SRP or APA were not effective parameters to assess whether marine phytoplankton growth was limited phosphorus, nitrogen or both. In the SCS, the P-limited water masses were, in general, low in salinity, high in﹝NO3+NO2﹞,Chl a,﹝NO3+NO2﹞ / Chl a, APA and a N/P ratio higher than 16. The water masses that were N-limited was high in salinity, and low in﹝NO3+NO2﹞, Chl a,﹝NO3+NO2﹞/ Chl a and APA, as well as a N/P ratio smaller than 16. The water masses that were nitrogen and phosphorus co-limited were different from the N-limited ones in that they were low in SRP, SRP/Chl a, and DOP. The SRP and DOP concentration in the NP co-limited region were 11 - 28 nM and 0.09 - 0.23 �嵱, respectively, and were lower than those in the N-limited regions that were 32 - 125 nM and 0.11 - 0.29 �嵱, respectively. The surface APA (exclusive of the P-limitation stations) was not linearly correlated with SRP. While SRP at the range between 6 - 77 nM was positively correlated (p<0.05) with APA, SRP and APA were both positively (p<0.05) correlated with Chl a. When SRP concentration was greater than 77 nM, APA was not related to SRP.

The nutrient status of phytoplankton in the SCS varied seasonally and spatially. The SCS showed a region-wide N-limitation in winter and spring. In summer, P-limitation, NP-limitation and N-limitation took place, alternatively and regionally. The slope and basin regions were NP-limited. In fall, NP-colimitation was common place in all SCS. P-limitaion only occurred sparingly at the Chinese contiential shelf in summer and at the mouth of Zhu Jiang River in fall.





Keywords
Phosphorus, South China Sea, SRP, dissolved organic phosphorus, alkaline phosphatase activity

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:TW/092NSYS5270014
Date January 2004
CreatorsGloria Hwang, 黃珠美
ContributorsYuh-ling Lee Chen, Houng-Yung Chen, 李玉玲, 陳宏遠
Source SetsNational Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan
Languagezh-TW
Detected LanguageEnglish
Type學位論文 ; thesis
Format130

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