• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.78-93
• /
• 2003

To investigate seasonal variation and structure of the microbial community in Kyeonggi Bay, abundance and carbon biomass of nano-and micrzooplankton were evaluated in relation to size fractionated chlorophyll-a concentration, through the monthly interval sampling from December 1997 to November 1998. Communities of nano-and microzooplankton were classified into 4 groups such as heterotrophic nanoflagellate(HNF), ciliates, heterotrophic dinoflagellates(HDF) and zooplankton nauplii. Abundance and carbon biomass of HNF ranged from 380 to 4,370 cells ml-1(average 1,340$\pm$130 cells ml-1) and from 0.63 to 12.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 4.35$\pm$0.58 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of ciliates ranged from 331 to 44,571 cells ml-1(average 3,526$\pm$544 cells ml-1) and from 1.3 to 119.7 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 13.7$\pm$3.0 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of HDF ranged from 88 to 48,461 cells 1-1(average 9,034$\pm$2,347 cells 1-1) and from 0.05 to 54.05 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 6.9$\pm$2.4 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Abundance and carbon biomass of zooplankton nauplii ranged from 5 to 546 indiv. 1-1(average 83$\pm$15 indiv. 1-1) and from 0.17 to 43.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1(average 6.3$\pm$1.2 $\mu\textrm{g}$C 1-1), respectively. Eash component of microbial biomass was not different from tidal cycle except tintinnids group. Depth integrated nano-and microzooplankton biomass ranged from 124 to 1,635 mgC m-2(average 585$\pm$110 mgC m-2) and was highest in March and May. The relative contribution of each component to the nano-and microzooplankton showed difference according to seasons. Community structure of nano-and microzooplankton was dominated by planktonic ciliate group. During the study period, carbon biomass of nano-and microzooplankton was strongly positively correlated with size fractionated chlorophylla-a. It implied that prey-predator relationship between microzooplankton and phytoplankton was important in the pelagic ecosystem of Kyeonggi Bay.

• Ocean and Polar Research
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.457-472
• /
• 2011

To elucidate the trophic role of heterotrophic nano- and microplankton (HNMP), we investigated their biomass, community structure, and herbivory in three different water masses, namely, south of Polar Front (SPF), Polar Front Zone (PFZ), the Sub-Antarcitc Front (SAF) in the Drake Passage in the Southern Ocean, during the austral summer in 2002. We observed a spatial difference in the relative importance of the dominant HNMP community in these water masses. Ciliates accounted for 34.7% of the total biomass on an average in the SPF where the concentration of chlorophyll-a was low with the dominance of pico- and nanophytoplankton. Moreover, the importance of ciliates declined from the SPF to the SAF. In contrast, heterotrophic dinoflagellates (HDFs) were the most dominant grazers in the PFZ where the concentration of chlorophyll-a was high with the dominance of net phytoplankton. HNMP biomass ranged from 321.9 to 751.4 $mgCm^{-2}$ and was highest in the PFZ and lowest in the SPF. This result implies that the spatial dynamic of HNMP biomass and community was significantly influenced by the composition and concentration of phytoplankton as a food source. On an average, 75.6%, 94.5%, and 78.9% of the phytoplankton production were consumed by HNMP in the SPF, PFZ, and SAF, respectively. The proportion of phytoplankton grazed by HNMP was largely determined by the composition and biomass of HNMP, as well as the composition of phytoplankton. However, the herbivory of HNMP was one of the most important loss processes affecting the biomass and composition of phytoplankton particularly in the PFZ. Our results suggest that the bulk of the photosynthetically fixed carbon was likely reprocessed by HNMP rather than contributing to the vertical flux in Drake Passage during the austral summer in 2002.