Phytoplankton succession

McMinn, A., Bleakley, N., Steinburner, K., Roberts, D., Trenerry, L. (2000). Effects of permanent sea ice cover and different nutrient regimes on the phytoplankton succession of fjords of the Vestfold HiUs Oasis, eastern Antarctica. J. Plankton Res. 22, 287-303. 

Smetacek, V., Hendrikson, P, 1979. Composition of particulate organic matter in Kiel Bight in relation to phytoplankton succession. Oceanologica Acta, 2, 287-298. 

It is worth noting that humans are not the only organisms to affect ecosystems by the input of potentially toxic materials. Phytoplanktonic succession is affected by various chemicals exuded by different species. Some... 

Table 9.7 Ambient nutrient element ratios and phytoplankton succession... 

Lin Y, Tang SM, Chen XL, Zhuang DF (1994) Effect of inorganic nitrogen on phytoplankton succession in marine ecosystems. Acta Ecol Sin 14(3) 323-326 (in Chinese with English abstract)... 

The toxicity of H to a variety of phytoplankton and aquatic plants (water milfoil, parrot s feather, and water crowfoot) was tested under static conditions at concentrations of 5 and 50 mg/L (Buswell et al. 1944). H had no effect other than a delay of phytoplankton succession by 2-3 d and an initial wilting followed by revival of the higher plants. 

The results of two successful iron-fertilization experiments in the eastern equatorial Pacific have clearly shown that phytoplankton growth rate is limited by iron at that location (Martin et al., 1994 Coale et al., 1996). The species composition and size distributions of the ecosystem are influenced by iron availability (Landry et al., 1997). In particular, large diatoms do not grow at optimum rates in the absence of sufficient iron. Loukos et al. (1997) used a simple... 

It remains to be demonstrated that OFAs are extracellular metabolites of algae and that they are prominant factors among the many determinants of succession and dominance patterns of phytoplankton. It appears that these compounds are worthy of further structural study, and that the effects on individual algae show promise of providing insight into the complex interactions in aquatic ecosystems. 

Other roles for noxious metabolites produced by certain phytoplankton species include mediation of allelopathic interactions [47]. Allelopathy covers biochemical interactions among different primary producers or between primary producers and microorganisms. These can provide an advantage for the producer in the competition among different photoautotrophs for resources. Although not directly involved in chemical defense, allelopathic metabolites can affect the dominance and succession of species in phytoplankton therefore they are crucial for understanding plankton composition. In contrast to the fresh water environment, the location of many studies on the role of allelopathic interactions, which have identified active compounds [47], only few studies have addressed this topic in the marine environment. 

Kohler J (1994) Origin and succession of phytoplankton in a river-lake-system (Spree, Germany). Hydrobiologia 289 73-83... 

Despite these problems, flow cytometry has had some noted success in aquatic research, particularly in relation to studies on the phytoplankton. Because all phytoplankton possess chlorophyll, but only the cyanobacteria possess the phycobiliproteins, autofluorescence signatures from water samples, based on the chlorophyll (fluorescence >630 nm), phycoerythrin (fluorescence <590 nm), and forward scatter of particles, have been used to characterize the changes that occur in plankton at different depths or at different locations (Figs. 11.5 and 11.6). 

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