• Journal of the Korean Society of Marine Environment & Safety
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.288-293
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• 2018

This study was conducted to understand the characteristics of the seasonal and regional distribution of phytoplankton communities in the Fisheries Resources Protection Area of Korea (FRPA). We investigated the phytoplankton composition, abundance and dominant species collected from five different regions (Cheonsu, Tongyeong-I, Tongyeong-II, Hansan, and Jindong) in 2016. According to the results, most environmental parameters, such as temperature, salinity and nutrients, showed statistically significant seasonal differences. Suspended particulate material (SPM) only showed a statistically significant regional difference. The mean abundance of phytoplankton ranged from 13 to $4,062cells{\cdot}ml^{-1}$, with large spatio-temporal fluctuations. In particular, the bloom of phytoplankton (>$10^3cells{\cdot}ml^{-1}$) in Cheonsu Bay occurred in April and October with Skeletonema spp. and Chaetoceros socialis being the dominant species during these two seasons, respectively. The dominant species in the FRPA were diatoms (Pseudo-nitzschia spp., Skeletonema spp., and Chaetoceros pseudocriniuts) and dinoflagellates (Scrippsiella trochoidea and Tripos furca). The seasonal distribution of phytoplankton communities showed typical characteristics of coastal waters, i.e., that diatoms usually dominated in winter and autumn, while dinoflagellates tended to dominate in spring and summer. Meanwhile, the dominance rate of diatoms in the phytoplankton community in Cheonsu Bay, which is located in a high-turbidity region, was 9~27 % greater than that of diatoms in the phytoplankton community found in the south coastal waters, which is a low turbidity region.