Photosynthetic carbon fixation regulates air-sea CO 2 fluxes in the waters of coral reefs. However, little has been documented on the effects of solar UV radiation (UVR, 280-400 nm) upon photosynthetic behaviors of phytoplankton dwelling in these ecosystems. In order to evaluate the aforesaid, surface dwelling tropical coral reef phytoplankton assemblages collected from the South China Sea were exposed to solar radiation (i.e., photosynthetically active radiation [PAR] + UV radiation A [UVA] + UV radiation B [UVB], 280-700 nm; PAR + UVA, 320-700 nm; and PAR, 400-700 nm) under static or simulated-mixing conditions. Under the static condition, UVA and UVB significantly reduced the carbon fixation with the maximum of 22.4 and 15.3%, respectively; while lower UVR-related photosynthetic inhibition was observed in case of phytoplankton samples being subjected to mixing. At a moderate level of mixing (i.e., circulation time 80 min), the UVA and UVB caused inhibition were lowered by 52.1 and 79.6%, respectively. Based on this it could be stated that vertical mixing induced by winds and/or tides in the natural environments could reduce the inhibitory effect of solar UVR on phytoplankton productivity in the coral reefs water.
Principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) are utilized to identify the effects caused by human activities on water quality along the coast of Sanya, South China Sea. PCA and CA identify the seasonality of water quality (dry and wet seasons) and polluted status (polluted area). The seasonality of water quality is related to climate change and Southeast monsoons. Spatial pattern is mainly related to anthropogenic activities (especially land input of pollutions). PCA reveals the characteristics underlying the generation of coastal water quality. The temporal and spatial variation of the trophic status along the coast of Sanya is governed by hydrodynamics and human activities. The results provide a novel typological understanding of seasonal trophic status in a shallow, tropical, open marine bay.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.