Phytoplankton functional groups: Short‐term variation in a tropical tidal‐forced estuarine system

Abstract

Functional groups have become an important tool for characterizing communities of marine and estuarine environments. Their use also holds promise for a better understanding of the temporal dynamics of phytoplankton. This study aimed to evaluate the contributions of phytoplankton size fractions and functional groups characterizing short‐term variation throughout tidal cycles and between dry and rainy seasons in a tropical estuarine system. Camamu Bay is an oligotrophic estuarine system that is under strong influence from tropical shelf waters and is characterized by high salinity and low concentrations of dissolved nutrients. Surface‐water samples were collected at nine sampling sites distributed among the three hydrodynamic regions of the bay, and at a mooring, at 3‐hr intervals during tidal cycles (12 hr each) in both the rainy and the dry season. Although the abundances of the phytoplankton fractions (pico‐, nano‐, and micro‐) were higher in the rainy season and during periods of higher tide, they were not significantly higher. The phytoplankton community in the bay comprises three functional groups: GI = “colonial” (i.e., chain‐forming diatoms and filamentous cyanobacteria); GII = “GALD >40” (i.e., pennate and centric diatoms with MDL >40 µm), and GIII = “flagellates” (i.e., species with motility via flagella). Nanoflagellates were the most abundant form in the bay, while chain‐forming diatoms, in particular, contributed to the microphytoplankton fraction during both the rainy and dry seasons. Functional groups, as defined by cluster analysis, reflected ecological strategies compatible with the high hydrodynamics of Camamu Bay, which is characterized by processes of tidal‐forced intense mixing, mainly during periods of spring tides. The phytoplankton of the bay was found to possess a series of attributes (functional traits) that endow them with some resistance to sinking. Functional diversity indexes (FEve, FDiv, and FDis) indicated a stable community without significant short‐term variation due to low variability in the environmental conditions of the system during the study period.

Diatom Assemblages and Their Interrelationships between Different Water Quality Parameters in Gorveshwari River of Bangladesh

“…Diatoms have been used in a number of waterbodies as indicators of water pollution and monitoring the water quality [4,13]. Some studies have been conducted in riverine ecosystems but the variation of the assemblage of diatom associated with physico-chemical factors remains poorly resolved [14][15][16][17][18][19] as maximum diatom concentration differs between upstream and downstream. Hence, the present study aimed to describe the species composition of diatom assemblages and the correlation of physico-chemical factors with diatom assemblage according to trophic levels.…”