Picoplankton distribution influenced by thermohaline circulation in the southern Adriatic

Šilović, Tina; Mihanović, Hrvoje; Batistić, Mirna; Radić, Iris Dupčić; Hrustić, Enis; Najdek, Mirjana

doi:10.1016/j.csr.2018.01.007

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…Bacterial abundance throughout the water column was approximately 10 5 cells mL −1 , which is per the recent data reported for the SAP [8,10] and with previous studies carried out in the Mediterranean Sea [67,72,[77][78][79]. Heterotrophic bacteria contribute at a high percentage in total picoplankton biomass, acting as decomposers of organic matter and important producers of new biomass.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

“…Additionally, we determined the dominance of HNA bacterial group in the deep-sea, while the LNA bacterial group prevailed in the epipelagic layer. Recent research from the Adriatic Sea pointed out the increase of HNA bacteria with depth, and together with LNA bacteria, they participated in the bacterial activity [10,68]. It is well known that HNA bacterial cells are larger than LNA cells and that the proportion of HNA bacteria increases with depth [69,70].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this study, we used data collected during the two ESAW cruises (Evolution and spreading of the Southern Adriatic Waters), supported by the EUROFLEETS2 program. The first one was conducted in December 2015 (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). The second one was conducted in April 2016 (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), when the hydrographic and environmental conditions were supposed to be changed after the wintertime occurrence of vertical convection, and consequent dense water formation.…”

Section: Physical and Biochemical Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first one was conducted in December 2015 (10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15). The second one was conducted in April 2016 (5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10), when the hydrographic and environmental conditions were supposed to be changed after the wintertime occurrence of vertical convection, and consequent dense water formation. The intention was to measure the signals of a possible spread of dense water from the middle to the southern Adriatic, because the former may be both an accumulation site and an occasional formation site for dense waters [34].…”

Section: Physical and Biochemical Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Picoplankton Distribution and Activity in the Deep Waters of the Southern Adriatic Sea

Šantić

Kovačević

Bensi

et al. 2019

Water

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Southern Adriatic (Eastern Mediterranean Sea) is a region strongly dominated by large-scale oceanographic processes and local open-ocean dense water formation. In this study, picoplankton biomass, distribution, and activity were examined during two oceanographic cruises and analyzed in relation to environmental parameters and hydrographic conditions comparing pre and post-winter phases (December 2015, April 2016). Picoplankton density with the domination of autotrophic biomasses was higher in the pre-winter phase when significant amounts of picoaoutotrophs were also found in the meso-and bathy-pelagic layers, while Synechococcus dominated the picoautotrophic group. Higher values of bacterial production and domination of High Nucleic Acid content bacteria (HNA bacteria) were found in deep waters, especially during the post-winter phase, suggesting that bacteria can have an active role in the deep-sea environment. Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria accounted for a small proportion of total heterotrophic bacteria but contributed up to 4% of bacterial carbon content. Changes in the picoplankton community were mainly driven by nutrient availability, heterotrophic nanoflagellates abundance, and water mass movements and mixing. Our results suggest that autotrophic and heterotrophic members of the picoplankton community are an important carbon source in the food web in the deep-sea, as well as in the epipelagic layer. Besides, viral lysis may affect the activity of the picoplankton community and enrich the water column with dissolved organic carbon.

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