Comparative assessment of the productivity of marine ecosystems based on measuring the intensity of bioluminescent glow

Abstract

A comparative assessment of water productivity was carried out using measurements of the intensity of light radiation of aquatic organisms, carried out by optical methods using high-speed hydrobiophysical devices. The proposed method was used to calculate the integral intensity of bioluminescence of hydrobionts, which made it possible to perform a comparative assessment of the biomass, total abundance of hydrobionts, and the productivity of the coastal waters of Crimea (Black Sea). It was found that the highest integral intensity of bioluminescence of hydrobionts, averaging 37830 pW∙cm^-2∙l^-1, was observed on the southwestern shelf of the Crimea, which confirms the high biological productivity of the waters of this area. In the Kerch pre-strait area, where most of the stations were located in the divergence zone, the water productivity was quite high, yielding only 1.24 times to the value on the shallow southwestern shelf.