Spatial distribution of the microzooplankton communities in the northern South China Sea: Insights into their function in microbial food webs

Jinpeng Yang; Zijian Chen; Dongxing Chen; Dapeng Xu

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111898

Spatial distribution of the microzooplankton communities in the northern South China Sea: Insights into their function in microbial food webs

Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Jan:162:111898. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111898. Epub 2020 Dec 11.

Authors

Jinpeng Yang¹, Zijian Chen², Dongxing Chen³, Dapeng Xu⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Resources and Coastal Engineering, Guangzhou 510006, China. Electronic address: yangjp8@mail.sysu.edu.cn.
² South China Sea Marine Survey and Technology Center, SOA, Guangzhou 510006, China.
³ School of Marine Sciences, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510006, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science, College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China; Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.

PMID: 33316704
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2020.111898

Abstract

The spatial distribution of microzooplankton in the northern South China Sea was investigated in March 2016. Microzooplankton communities were dominated by cyclotrichids, aloricate oligotrichs, and choreotrichs within ciliates and the order Gymnodiniales within dinoflagellates. Microzooplankton abundance varied between 60 and 166,520 cells L^-1, with higher values in the coastal diluted water, and microzooplankton biomass exhibiting a similar pattern. High densities of Akashiwo cf. sanguinea were found in the upper waters along the coast, and mixotrophs dominated the communities in all the water masses. A canonical analysis of principal coordinates showed that the spatial patterns of microzooplankton communities could be clearly discriminated in the different water masses. Our findings provide insights into the functioning of microzooplankton and the potential risk of harmful Akashiwo cf. sanguinea algal blooms in coastal waters. In addition, our study provides evidence for using microzooplankton communities as potential indicators of water masses in complex marine systems.

Keywords: Biological indicator; Community structure; Functional diversity; Harmful algal blooms; Mixotrophic dinoflagellate; Water masses.

MeSH terms

China
Ciliophora*
Dinoflagellida*
Food Chain
Harmful Algal Bloom