Distribution and influencing factors of microeukaryote in different water layers of the southwestern Indian Ocean Ridge

Microeukaryotes play a vital role in shaping marine ecosystems,especially in marine productivity,the microbial food web,and carbon cycle.The Indian Ocean is one of the largest oligotrophic areas in the world,but little is known about the biodiversity of microeukaryotes in the area.The community composition and geographical distribution of microeukaryotes collected from the surface(SUR)and deep chlorophyll maximum(DCM)layers in the southwestern Indian Ocean were studied using high-throughput sequencing of the 18S rRNA gene.The metagenomic data helped quantify the impact of environmental factors on microeukaryotic communities.The relative abundance of different taxa groups exhibited distinct patterns between SUR and DCM layers,except for the most dominant Dinoflagellata that accounted for more than 40.6%abundance in each sample.Radiolaria was much more abundant in the nutrient-rich DCM layer than the SUR layer.The community similarity of microeukaryotes decreased with increasing of geographic distance,whereas the temperature and inorganic nitrogen were the most important environmental parameters to community structure.Abundant communities were more influenced by dispersal limitations and rare communities were more responsive to environmental factors.Correlation network analyses revealed strong biotic interactions indicative of parasitism,predation and competition,and their contribution to microeukaryotic population in diverse environments.Overall,this study provided insights into the biodiversity of microeukaryotes by characterizing the differences between water layers and identifying the driving factors in the ocean.

Decadal characteristics of the floating Ulva and Sargassum in the Subei Shoal,Yellow Sea

The data of field surveys during 2009 to 2018 was analyzed to understand the seasonality and inter-annual variability of the floating Ulva and Sargassum in the Subei Shoal,the southwestern Yellow Sea of China on decadal scale.The floating Ulva biomass was consistently originated from the central region of the Subei Shoal in middle to late April,increased rapidly,drifted and extended into the offshore water in May and June.The average floating Ulva biomass in the shoal generally increased over the years with evident inter-annual fluctuations.In contrast,pelagic Sargassum was accumulated in the Subei Shoal and formed the spring bloom only in 2013,2017 and 2018,and the biomass was higher than the co-occurring Ulva during the survey in these three years.Compared to the raft-origin floating Ulva,genesis and development of the pelagic Sargassum was distinct.Based on the current research,the Sargassum biomass was exotic and often initiated in the offshore water in March,and intruded into the shoal in April and May.The analysis on the environmental parameters was inconclusive since multiple anthropogenic and non-indigenous factors could influence the green tides in this region.Further research covering both the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea is needed to trace the origin of the floating Sargassum and to understand the interactions between these two co-occurring seaweeds.

Physical-biogeochemical interactions and potential effects on phytoplankton and Ulva prolifera in the coastal waters off Qingdao(Yellow Sea, China)

In recent years, the spectacular massive green tide of Ulva prolifera has become a recurrent phenomenon appearing every summer in the coastal waters off Qingdao(Yellow Sea, China), attracting the attention of scientists and local government. Based on multidisciplinary data collected during summer and winter, this study focuses on the hydrological characteristics and regional biogeochemical processes in coastal waters off Qingdao.The results show that the boundary of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM) can reach the Qingdao coastal region in summer and is locally raised to the upper layers to form coastal upwelling beyond tidal mixing and favorable wind. The regional summer upwelling off the Qingdao coast effectively enriches the nutrient concentrations in the upper water column and thus promotes growth of phytoplankton but reduces the dissolved oxygen(DO) concentration and pH value in the bottom. The regional summer upwelling off Qingdao coast may facilitate the growth and regional blooming of the U. prolifera that migrate to this region with the southerly wind.Additionally, the effects of the front on the aggregation of U. prolifera may be significant. In winter, the Yellow Sea Warm Current(YSWC) extends and spreads along the offshore region off the Subei Shoal towards the Qingdao coastal sea. This tongue-shaped warm water meets the cold coastal water off Qingdao, which leads to the formation of a physical front. As a consequence, remarkable fronts of nutrient and chlorophyll a(Chl a) also form between the shoreward warm water and the cold coastal water. This study increases the understanding of the interactions between the regional physical, chemical, and biological processes off the Qingdao coast.

Spatiotemporal variability of physical-biogeochemical processes and intrinsic correlations in the semi-enclosed South Yellow Sea

Investigating the spatiotemporal variability of biogeochemical processes and ecological responses under multiple physical controls in shelf seas is of great importance for obtaining an in-depth understanding of marine ecosystem.Based on a compiled data set of historical observations and remote sensing data,the spatiotemporal variability and heterogeneity of physical-biogeochemical processes in the semi-enclosed South Yellow Sea(SYS)are investigated,and the intrinsic connectivity among different subregions and the associated mechanisms are examined.The results show that the seasonal alternation between southward transport in cold seasons and upwelling-induced vertical delivery in warm seasons is the primary physical control of the biogeochemical processes and primary production off Shidao and in the area adjacent to the Haizhou Bay.The northeastward expansion of coastal waters in the Subei Shoal constitutes an important physical driver for the offshore transport of Ulva prolifera in summer.Stratification significantly affects the biogeochemical processes in the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM)-dominated area during warm seasons,and nutrients can accumulate in bottom waters from spring to autumn,making the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass(YSCWM)be an important nutrient pool.Upwelling around the YSCWM boundary in the stratified season leads to consistency among the high chlorophyll a(Chl a)area,high primary productivity region and low-temperature upwelling zone.During cold seasons,the interactions of the southward cold waters in the western nearshore area and the northward warm waters in the central region lead to an“S”-shaped front in the SYS.In summer,upwelling can extract nutrients from the YSCWM;thus,the biogeochemical-ecological processes inside the cold-water mass and in the frontal zone are well connected via upwelling,and three typical physical-biogeochemical coupling regions are generated,namely,the Shidao coast,the area beyond the Haizhou Bay and the area off the Subei Shoal.This work refines and integrates studies on regional oceanography in the SYS and provides a comprehensive and systematic framework of physical-biogeochemical-ecological processes.

Two drifting paths of Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during 2019-2020

The macroalgal blooms of floating brown algae Sargassum horneri are increasing in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea during the past few years.However,the annual pattern of Sargassum bloom is not well characterized.To study the developing pattern and explore the impacts from hydro-meteorologic environment,high resolution satellite imageries were used to monitor the distribution,coverage and drifting of the pelagic Sargassum rafts in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea from September 2019 to August 2020.Sargassum blooms were detected from October 2019 to June 2020 and presented two successive drifting paths that both initiated from around 37°N.The first path spanned smaller spatial scale and shorter period,starting with a bloom of 3 km^(2) distribution area near the eastern tip of Shandong Peninsula in late October 2019 and drifted southwards,hit the Pyropia aquaculture area in early January 2020,then vanished in the northwest of East China Sea(ca.32°N)around end of January.The second path began with a large distribution area of 23000 km^(2) east of 123°E in late January 2020,firstly moved southwards in the central Yellow Sea and northern East China Sea(north of 29°N)till late April,then turned northwards with monsoon wind and vanished from late June to August.The mean sea surface temperature of 8℃ to 20℃ in the Sargassum bloom areas corresponded to in situ observed temperature range for vegetative growth and floating of S.horneri.There was no observed floating Sargassum blooms during July through September in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.The results indicate that floating S.horneri is unable to complete life cycle in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea,and provide insights to the future management of Sargassum blooms.Further studies are needed to validate the pattern and source of annual Sargassum bloom in the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.

Population differentiation in the dominant species(Ulva prolifera)of green tide in coastal waters of China

Since 2015,green tides with Ulva prolifera as the dominant species in the Qinhuangdao coastal waters have continued to occur.In this study,the relationship between green tides in Qinhuangdao and the Yellow Sea(setting sites in Rudong and Qingdao)was evaluated by genetic analyses of U.prolifera.Single nucleotide polymorphism(SNP)markers were used to analyze genetic diversity and genetic relationships among groups.Genetic differentiation was lower among floating U.prolifera populations in Rudong and Qingdao than in Qinhuangdao.The floating U.prolifera population had higher genetic diversity and polymorphism levels in Qingdao and Rudong than in Qinhuangdao.Physiological experiments showed that the growth rate and net buoyancy of floating U.prolifera were highest in Qinhuangdao and Qingdao,respectively,under the same environmental conditions(temperature and light).Overall,these findings showed that U.prolifera populations in the Qinhuangdao and Yellow Sea green tides(Rudong and Qingdao)differ significantly at the molecular and physiological levels.Therefore,the Qinhuangdao green tide is not correlated with the Yellow Sea green tide and has a different origin and development mode.This study provides insight into the mechanism underlying green tide blooms in coastal waters of China.

The distribution of phytoplankton size and major influencing factors in the surface waters near the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula

The waters near the Antarctic Peninsula have always been a study hot spot because of their variable and unique oceanographic conditions.To determine the distribution and possible influencing factors on phytoplankton size and abundance near the Antarctic Peninsula,a large-scale survey was conducted during the austral summer of2018.Samples were collected in 27 stations located in the Drake Passage(DP),South Shetland Islands(SSI),and South Orkney Islands(SOI).Phytoplankton communities were described using chlorophyll a(Chl a),flow cytometry and light microscopy to cover a size range from pico-to microphytoplankton.Nanophytoplankton,especially small nanophytoplankton(2-6μm)with abundance ranging from 0.66×10^(3) cells/mL to 8.46×10^(3) cells/mL,was predominant throughout the study area.Among different regions,there was an obvious size shift.The proportion of picophytoplankton near the Elephant Island(EI)and DP was higher than other regions,and larger cells were found mainly in east of SOI.The distribution of phytoplankton abundance detected by flow cytometry was not completely consistent with Chl a concentrations due to the contribution of larger cells to Chl a.Possible influencing factors on the phytoplankton size distribution were discussed.The properties of water masses such as temperature and salinity can influence the phytoplankton size distribution.Correlation analysis revealed that only picophytoplankton is significantly correlated with salinity.Light and Fe availability might affect phytoplankton abundance and size distribution especially near the waters of SSI and EI in this study.It was also speculated that the abundance of cryptophytes is possibly related to ice melting.