Winter Distribution of Diatom Assemblages in the East China Sea

Abstract

We examined the spatial distributional relationships between diatom assemblages and water types during the winter in the East China Sea. Principal component analysis was used to identify two water types and two diatom assemblages in the study area. Coastal water types along the mainland China coastline had low temperature and salinity levels, but high nitrate levels. The shelf-mixing water type in the rest of the study area had higher temperatures and salinities and lower levels of nitrate. Diatom assemblage distribution was not spatially consistent with water type. The Kuroshio assemblage had a large standing stock, distributed along the surface of the shelf break. This assemblage is likely the result of Kuroshio surface water coming into contact with nutrient-rich water in the shelf area, triggering proliferation of certain diatom species. A background assemblage with low standing stock level persisted over the entire study area in both coastal water and the shelf-mixing water types. Our results support previous research: the background assemblage is due to poor growth conditions such as the convection of water during winter; there were no significant seasonal variations in the species composition.