Spatial-temporal variation of phytoplankton community structure in Jiaozhou Bay, China

Abstract

To better understand the spatial-temporal variation in phytoplankton community structure and its controlling factors in Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, North China, four seasonal sampling were carried out in 2017. The phytoplankton community structure and various environmental parameters were examined. The phytoplankton community in the bay was composed of mainly diatoms and dinoflagellates, and several other species of Chrysophyta were also observed. Diatoms were the most dominant phytoplankton group throughout the year, except in spring and winter, when Noctiluca scintillans was co-dominant. High Si/N ratios in summer and fall reflect the high dominance of diatoms in the two seasons. Temporally, the phytoplankton cell abundance peaked in summer, due mainly to the high temperatures and nutrient concentrations in summer. Spatially, the phytoplankton cell abundance was higher in the northern part of the bay than in the other parts of the bay in four seasons. The diatom cell abundances show significant positive correlations with the nutrient concentrations, while the dinoflagellate cell abundances show no correlation or a negative correlation with the nutrient concentrations but a significant positive correlation with the stratification index. This discrepancy was mainly due to the different survival strategies between diatoms and dinoflagellates. The Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) values in the bay ranged from 0.08 to 4.18, which fell in the range reported in historical studies. The distribution pattern of H′ values was quite different from that of chlorophyll a, indicating that the phytoplankton community structure might have high biomass with a low diversity index. Compared with historical studies, we believe that the dominant phytoplankton species have been changed in recent years due mainly to the changing environment in the Jiaozhou Bay in recent 30 years.