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Size structure and pigment composition of phytoplankton communities in different hydrographic zones in Hong Kong's coastal seas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2015

Chi Hung Tang ,
Chong Kim Wong ,
Alle An Ying Lie  and
Ying Kit Yung
Chi Hung Tang
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, NT, Hong Kong SAR, China
Chong Kim Wong*
Affiliation:
School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, NT, Hong Kong SAR, China
Alle An Ying Lie
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, 3616 Trousdale Parkway, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA
Ying Kit Yung
Affiliation:
Water Policy and Planning Group, Hong Kong Government Environmental Protection Department, Hong Kong SAR, China
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: C.K. Wong, School of Life Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, NT, Hong Kong SAR, China email: chongkimwong@cuhk.edu.hk
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Abstract

The abundance and community composition of phytoplankton are influenced by a suite of interacting environmental factors. Hong Kong's marine environment features a hydrographic gradient from an estuarine zone in the west to a transition zone in the middle and an oceanic zone in the east. Size fractionation combined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) pigment analyses were used to investigate the phytoplankton communities in different hydrographic zones during summer (July–August 2009) and winter (December 2009–January 2010). Clear temporal and spatial variations in environmental parameters occurred among hydrographic zones. Results of principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that the major deviating factors among hydrographic zones were turbidity and salinity in summer and nitrate and phosphate in winter. Phytoplankton abundance showed significant temporal variations, but no zonal variations. Phytoplankton communities in all hydrographic zones were dominated by cells >5 µm in both summer and winter. Chlorophyll a concentrations for most size fractions correlated significantly with temperature. The high concentration of fucoxanthin indicated that the phytoplankton community was dominated by diatoms in both summer and winter, while dinoflagellates, cryptophytes, cyanobacteria and other minor groups occurred sporadically in low abundance. The spatial pattern of phytoplankton in Hong Kong's coastal seas did not reflect the hydrographic zonation, but the phytoplankton in the semi-enclosed Tolo Harbour and Deep Bay were different from those in the other zones.

Keywords

phytoplanktoncommunity compositionmarker pigmentssize-fractionated chlorophyllHPLCprincipal component analysismultidimensional scalinghydrographic zonescoastal watersHong Kong
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 95 , Issue 5 , August 2015 , pp. 885 - 896
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2015 

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