Journal of Tropical Oceanography ›› 2014, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (2): 78-86.doi: 10.11978/j.issn.1009-5470.2014.02.011cstr: 32234.14.j.issn.1009-5470.2014.02.011

• Marine Biology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research on dissolved aluminum in the central and southern South China Sea: Can aluminum stimulate Pyrrophyta’s growth?

WANG Qiong1, 2, TAN Ye-hui1, ZHOU Lin-bin1, KE Zhi-xin1, HUANG Liang-min1   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of Marine Bio-resources Sustainable Utilization, South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510301, China; 2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2013-04-24 Revised:2013-05-22 Online:2014-04-02 Published:2014-04-02
  • Contact: 国家自然科学基金重点项目(41276162、41130855); 科技基础性工作专项项目(2008FY110100)

Abstract: Based on the cruise in the central and southern South China Sea from November 28th, 2011 to January 12th, 2012, the characteristics of dissolved aluminum distribution and its correlation with phytoplankton community structure were presented in this paper. The data included 78 dissolved Al samples at 25 stations between 5 and 18°N. The average value of dissolved Al in the surface water was 138.3±39.1 nmol·L-1, showing a horizontal distribution with high concentration in the continental shelf water and low concentration in the open sea and around islands and reefs. In the surface water samples, we identified 132 phytoplankton species belonging to 57 genera, including Bacillariophyta, Pyrrophyta and Cyanophyta. Phytoplankton biomass fluctuated from 0.75×103 to 21.09×103 cell·dm-3 and showed a significant positive correlation with dissolved Al (n=22, r=0.55, p<0.01). Dissolved Al showed obvious variation from the surface to 100 m in the vertical profiles, but little change from 100 to 300 m. No strong analogy between dissolved Al and nutrients was observed at two vertical profiles. However, dissolved Al exhibited a significant positive correlation with chlorophyll a (n=16, r=0.58, p<0.05), the total abundance of phytoplankton (n=16, r=0.59, p<0.05), and the Pyrrophyta abundance (n=15, r=0.69, p<0.01), which indicates that the dissolved Al may have stimulated Pyrrophyta’s growth in the central and southern South China Sea in winter.

Key words: dissolved aluminum, distribution, Pyrrophyta, South China Sea

CLC Number: 

  • P735