Functional relationships and bio-optical properties derived from phytoplankton pigments, optical and photosynthetic parameters; a case study of the Benguela ecosystem

The relationships between phytoplankton pigments, optical properties and photosynthetic parameters for different phytoplankton functional types (derived by diagnostic pigment indices, DPI) were determined from data acquired in the Benguela ecosystem and the offshore region in October 2002. We observed robust inter-pigment relationships: total chlorophyll-a (TChla) was highly correlated with total pigment (TP) and accessory pigment (AP). However, the regression equations for stations dominated by flagellates differed from the equations for stations dominated by diatoms and dinoflagellates. The pigment ratio TChla/TP and the optical ratio a676/a440 were not constant but increased non-linearly with increasing TChla or TP; complimentarily the AP/TP and a490/a676 ratios decreased. There were significant non linear relationships between the photosynthetic parameters Fv/Fm or σPSII measured by Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometry and TChla or TP. Pigment ratios, optical ratios, Fv/Fm and σPSII were all inter-correlated with high significance. We determined the distinctive bio-optical properties associated with dominant phytoplankton functional types (derived by DPI) that conformed to the classical partitioning: flagellates (nano-plankton, comprising several taxa) had low biomass,low TChla/TP fraction and low Fv/Fm and high σPSII; diatoms and dinoflagellates (micro-plankton) had high biomass, pigment ratios, Fv/Fm and low σPSII.

[1]  N. Holmboe,et al.  Nutrient addition bioassays as indicators of nutrient limitation of phytoplankton in an eutrophic estuary , 1999 .

[2]  S. Jeffrey,et al.  Studies of Phytoplankton Species and Photosynthetic Pigments in a Warm Core Eddy of the East Australian Current. II. A Note on Pigment Methodology , 1980 .

[3]  André Morel,et al.  Light and marine photosynthesis: a spectral model with geochemical and climatological implications , 1991 .

[4]  R. Geider,et al.  RESPONSE OF THE PHOTOSYNTHETIC APPARATUS OF PHAEODACTYLUM TRICORNUTUM (BACILLARIOPHYCEAE) TO NITRATE, PHOSPHATE, OR IRON STARVATION 1 , 1993 .

[5]  J. Aiken,et al.  The SeaWiFS CZCS-type pigment algorithm , 1996 .

[6]  G. Pitcher,et al.  Spatio-temporal variability of phytoplankton in the southern Benguela upwelling system , 1992 .

[7]  Dale A. Kiefer,et al.  In-vivo absorption properties of algal pigments , 1990, Defense, Security, and Sensing.

[8]  J. Aiken,et al.  Assessment of photosynthesis in a spring cyanobacterial bloom by use of a fast repetition rate fluorometer , 2001 .

[9]  Optical assessment of phytoplankton nutrient depletion , 1990 .

[10]  S. Alvaina,et al.  Remote sensing of phytoplankton groups in case 1 waters from global SeaWiFS imagery , 2005 .

[11]  P. Falkowski,et al.  Differential Effects of Nitrogen Limitation on Photosynthetic Efficiency of Photosystems I and II in Microalgae , 1996, Plant physiology.

[12]  John J. Cullen,et al.  THE BLANK CAN MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN OCEANOGRAPHIC MEASUREMENTS , 2003 .

[13]  A. J. Bale,et al.  The Atlantic Meridional Transect: overview and synthesis of data , 2000 .

[14]  P. Boyd,et al.  Iron-mediated changes in phytoplankton photosynthetic competence during SOIREE , 2001 .

[15]  Hervé Claustre,et al.  Phytoplankton pigment distribution in relation to upper thermocline circulation in the eastern Mediterranean Sea during winter , 2001 .

[16]  P. Falkowski,et al.  NITROGEN LIMITATION IN ISOCHRYSIS GALBANA (HAPTOPHYCEAE). II. RELATIVE ABUNDANCE OF CHLOROPLAST PROTEINS 1 , 1989 .

[17]  M. Søndergaard,et al.  Nutrient limitation in relation to phytoplankton carotenoid/chiorophyll a ratios in freshwater mesocosms , 1997 .

[18]  A. Richardson,et al.  Ocean climate of the South East Atlantic observed from satellite data and wind models , 2003 .

[19]  Kevin J. Flynn,et al.  A mechanistic model for describing dynamic multi-nutrient, light, temperature interactions in phytoplankton , 2001 .

[20]  Hugh L. MacIntyre,et al.  Evaluation of biophysical and optical determinations of light absorption by photosystem II in phytoplankton , 2004 .

[21]  R. Margalef,et al.  Sorne concepts relative to the organization of plankton , 1967 .

[22]  J. Aiken,et al.  Photosynthetic electron turnover in the tropical and subtropical Atlantic Ocean , 2006 .

[23]  Watson W. Gregg,et al.  Phytoplankton and iron: validation of a global three-dimensional ocean biogeochemical model , 2003 .

[24]  P. Holligan,et al.  Physical controls on phytoplankton physiology and production at a shelf sea front: a fast repetition-rate fluorometer based field study , 2003 .

[25]  Dale A. Kiefer,et al.  Chlorophyll α specific absorption and fluorescence excitation spectra for light-limited phytoplankton , 1988 .

[26]  Andrew J. Watson,et al.  Ecosystem dynamics based on plankton functional types for global ocean biogeochemistry models , 2005 .

[27]  J. Aiken,et al.  The annual cycle of phytoplankton photosynthetic quantum efficiency, pigment composition and optical properties in the western English Channel , 2004, Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom.

[28]  P. Falkowski,et al.  Photosynthetic rates derived from satellite‐based chlorophyll concentration , 1997 .

[29]  T. Kana,et al.  Dynamic model of phytoplankton growth and acclimation: responses of the balanced growth rate and the chlorophyll a:carbon ratio to light, nutrient-limitation and temperature , 1997 .

[30]  J. Aiken,et al.  Pigment adaptations in surface phytoplankton along the eastern boundary of the Atlantic Ocean , 2004 .

[31]  Jerry Blackford,et al.  Ecosystem dynamics at six contrasting sites: a generic modelling study , 2004 .

[32]  S. Gibb,et al.  Improved resolution of mono- and divinyl chlorophylls a and b and zeaxanthin and lutein in phytoplankton extracts using reverse phase C-8 HPLC , 1997 .

[33]  R. Sanders,et al.  Basin-scale variability of phytoplankton bio-optical characteristics in relation to bloom state and community structure in the Northeast Atlantic , 2005 .

[34]  François-Marie Bréon,et al.  Remote sensing of phytoplankton groups in case 1 waters from global SeaWiFS imagery , 2005 .

[35]  P. Falkowski,et al.  Use of active fluorescence to estimate phytoplankton photosynthesis in situ , 1993 .

[36]  Primary production of the ocean water column as a function of surface light intensity , 1987 .

[37]  R. Bidigare,et al.  Accessory pigments versus chlorophyll a concentrations within the euphotic zone: A ubiquitous relationship , 2000 .

[38]  T. Platt,et al.  Discrimination of diatoms from other phytoplankton using ocean-colour data , 2004 .

[39]  Motoaki Kishino,et al.  Estimation of the spectral absorption coefficients of phytoplankton in the sea , 1985 .

[40]  Manfred Ehrhardt,et al.  Methods of seawater analysis , 1999 .

[41]  J. Aiken,et al.  A methodology to determine primary production and phytoplankton photosynthetic parameters from Fast Repetition Rate Fluorometry , 2004 .

[42]  P. Falkowski,et al.  Effects of Growth Irradiance and Nitrogen Limitation on Photosynthetic Energy Conversion in Photosystem II. , 1988, Plant physiology.

[43]  M. Fasham,et al.  Modelling the Marine Biota , 1993 .

[44]  G. Pitcher,et al.  Hydrographic parameters as indicators of the suitability of phytoplankton populations as food for herbivorous copepods , 1992 .