Phytoplankton taxa in relation to primary production in the equatorial Pacific

Abstract Equatorial regions, especially the equatorial Pacific, are important to the global carbon and nitrogen cycle, yet little is known about the processes regulating phytoplankton dynamics in these areas. Here we report on the abundance of planktonic groups, in the picoplankton to netplankton range, estimated using epifluorescence microscopy, in samples collected in the equatorial Pacific from 110 to 140°W, and discuss their relation to primary production, chlorophyll, chemical and physical properties. Microscopic examination supports previous reports ( Chavez , 1989, Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 3, 27–35), based on size separations of biomass and production, that the equatorial Pacific is dominated by small phytoplankton, most of them smaller then 5 μm. The phytoplankton in this region is dominated by relatively few taxa: Synechococcus spp., red fluorescing picoplankton, a small naked dinoflaellate (4 × 7 μm), small prymnesiophytes (on the order of 3–5 μm), and small single-celled pennate diatoms (2 × 15 μm). The spatial variability in phytoplankton biomass, composition and production could be clearly related to distinct physical features of the equatorial circulation, such as equatorial upwelling, Long or Legeckis waves and the Equatorial Front. During November 1988, a period of abnormally cool sea surface temperatures, changes in the abundance of pennate diatoms accounted for the largest proportion of the variability in chlorophyll and primary production even though this group was a relatively minor contributor to the total biomass of the phytoplankton community. Since primary production and particulate organic flux are well correlated in the equatorial Pacific ( Betzer et al., 1984, Deep-Sea Research, 31, 1–11), variations in the abundance of pennate diatoms also must have important consequences to variations in particulate organic flux. Before a predictive model for particulate organic flux in the equatorial Pacific can be established further understanding of the forces structuring phytoplankton communities is required.

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