Relative Contributions of Environmental Variables and Zooplankton to Microphytoplankton Abundance, Diversity, and Community Assembly in a Shallow Coastal Area

• Yuan Ma ^[2] ; Lun Tan ^[3] ; Yu Ma ^[2] ; Weijie Zhang ^[2] ; Hong Deng ^[4] ; Lianjie Guo ^[3] ; Wei Wei ^[5] ; Guanzhe Li ^[1] ; Haoyuan Zhang ^[1]
  1. [1] Sun Yat-sen University

     Sun Yat-sen University

     China

     
  2. [2] South China Sea Marine Survey Center, Ministry of Natural Resources, Guangzhou
  3. [3] National Marine Data & Information Service, Tianjin
  4. [4] National Center of Ocean Standards and Metrology, Tianjin
  5. [5] Shenzhen Marine Center, Ministry of Natural Resources

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• Localización: Thalassas: An international journal of marine sciences, ISSN 0212-5919, Vol. 41, Nº. 3, 2025
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Microphytoplankton are important players in aquatic ecosystems. They are subjected to both bottom-up and top-down controls. However, studies on community ecology of microphytoplankton often consider environmental variables, the relative importance and types of biotic interactions influencing microphytoplankton have rarely been partitioned and identified under an integrated framework. In this study, we investigated the abundance, biomass, and diversity of microphytoplankton and zooplankton in a coastal region of Guangdong, northern South China Sea, where wind farms are planned to be built. Based on a linear multivariate regression model, we found the abundance of microphytoplankton was not correlated with any environmental variable measured, but it was with relative abundance of copepod larvae within the zooplankton community. Environmental factors played a greater role in explaining variations in microphytoplankton diversity than biotic factors; nevertheless, several traits of the zooplankton community were also significant. A combination of abiotic and biotic factors explained a much higher variation in microphytoplankton community structure than abiotic variables alone. The findings highlight that biotic interactions should be considered when assessing microphytoplankton responses to anthropogenic activities.