Annual plankton community metabolism in estuarine and coastal waters in Perth (Western Australia)

PeerJ

article

Susana Agusti¹  Lorena Vigoya²  Carlos Manuel Duarte¹ 

[1] Red Sea Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology;The UWA Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia

关键词: Planktonic metabolic balance;    Net community production (NCP);    Gross primary production (GPP);    Community respiration (CR);    Indian Ocean;    Swan river estuary;    Temperature;   

DOI  :  10.7717/peerj.5081

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Inra

【 摘 要 】

The planktonic metabolic balance that is the balance between gross primary production (GPP) and community respiration (CR) was determined in Matilda Bay (estuarine) and Woodman Point (coastal) in Perth, Western Australia. The rates of net community production (NCP = GPP – CR) and the ratio between GPP and CR (P/R) were assessed to evaluate whether the metabolic balance in the two coastal locations tends to be net autotrophic (production exceeding community respiration) or net heterotrophic (respiration exceeding production). We also analyzed environmental variability by measuring temperature, salinity, and nutrients and chlorophyll a1 in the majority of the sampling dates. In Matilda Bay, the metabolic rates were negatively correlated with salinity denoting river dynamics influence, and positively with chlorophyll a. In Woodman Point only the GPP was positively correlated with chlorophyll a. The positive correlation between P/R ratio and GPP in Matilda Bay and the positive correlations between the metabolic rates and chlorophyll a suggest that factors controlling autotrophic processes are modulating the planktonic metabolic balance in the coastal marine ecosystem in Perth. Significant correlations were found between CR and GPP-standardized to chlorophyll a and water temperature. The net autotrophic metabolic balance indicates that in both ecosystems planktonic communities are acting as a sink of CO2 and as a source of organic matter and oxygen to the system and are able to export organic matter to other ecosystems.

【 授权许可】

CC BY