Zooplankton composition and distribution in the Lembeh Strait of North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Based on oceanographic survey data in June 2012 in the Lembeh Strait, the zooplankton ecological characteristics such as species composition, individual abundance, dominant species and distribution were analyzed. The results showed that 183 species(including 4 sp.) had been recognized, most of them belonged to copepoda.Cnidaria followed with 43 species(including 1 sp.) were identified. The average abundance of zooplankton was(150.47±58.91) ind./m3. As to the horizontal distribution, the abundance of the zooplankton was higher in the southern waters than in the northern waters. The dominant species in the study area were Lensia subtiloides,Sagitta enflata, Lucifer intermedius, Oikopleura rufescens, Diphyes chamissoni, Creseis acicula, Subeucalanus subcrassus, Temora discaudata, Aglaura hemistoma, Doliolum denticulatum, Canthocalanus pauper, Oikopleura longicauda and Nanomia bijuga. Zooplankton biodiversity indexes were higher in study area than previous study in the other regions. The findings from this study provide important baseline information for future research and monitoring programs.

North-south difference of water mass properties across the Lembeh Strait, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Two field observations were conducted around the Lembeh Strait in September 2015 and 2016, respectively.Evidences indicate that seawater around the Lembeh Strait is consisted of North Pacific Tropical Water(NPTW),North Pacific Intermediate Water(NPIW), North Pacific Tropical Intermediate Water(NPTIW) and Antarctic Intermediate Water(AAIW). Around the Lembeh Strait, there exist some north-south differences in terms of water mass properties. NPTIW is only found in the southern Lembeh Strait. Water mass with the salinity of 34.6 is only detected at 200–240 m between NPTW and NPTIW in the southern Lembeh Strait, and results from the process of mixing between the saltier water transported from the South Pacific Ocean and the lighter water from the North Pacific Ocean and Sulawesi Sea. According to the analysis on mixing layer depth, it is indicated that there exists an onshore surface current in the northern Lembeh Strait and the surface current in the Lembeh Strait is southward.These dramatic differences of water masses demonstrate that the less water exchange has been occurred between the north and south of Lembeh Strait. In 2015, the positive wind stress curl covering the northern Lembeh Strait induces the shoaling of thermocline and deepening of NPIW, which show that the north-south difference of airsea system is possible of inducing north-south differences of seawater properties.

Community structure of zooplankton in the Lembeh Strait,Bitung, and Wori Beach, Manado, North Sulawesi,Indonesia

The community structure of zooplankton has been conducted in the Lembeh Strait in Bitung and Wori Beach in Manado, North Sulawesi in October 2015. Sampling of this research was conducted in 22 sampling sites along the strait. Zooplankton samples were collected from 22 stations, by NORPAC 300 μm net that was vertically hauled from maximum 10 m depth up to the surface water. The samples were poured into the bottle with formalin of 4%as preservative. The results showed that there were 43 taxa of zooplankton. The abundance of zooplankton was between 21.216–4 193.776 ind./m;. The dominant taxa were copepod, especially Calanoida. The composition of zooplankton was relatively similar in all stations. We showed the abundance, dominance, composition and distribution of zooplankton at this research. More extensive studies concerning zooplankton is required to understand zooplankton biodiversity as a whole especially on the geographical and spatial distribution to describe population and community dynamic in the Lembeh Strait and Wori Beach.

Phytoplankton changes during SE monsoonal period in the Lembeh Strait of North Sulawesi, Indonesia,from 2012 to 2015

Phytoplankton species composition and abundance in the Lembeh Strait waters was studied in four cruises of April 2013, May 2014, June 2012 and October 2015, during the period of monsoon transition time of SE monsoon.With data obtained the seasonal alternations of phytoplankton community structures and its driving factors were discussed. A total of 416 taxa belonging to 5 classes of phytoplankton were recorded in the four month surveys.Phytoplankton density was averaged 2 348 cell/L and diatoms and dinoflagellates had the most diversified species. Cyanobacterium was characterized by its low species numbers but high abundance in the waters of Lembeh Strait. Total phytoplankton abundance occurred low in April and October in the monsoon transition period and it raised high in May and June during the SE monsoon. Frequently occurred species were pelagic diatoms in addition to cyanobacterium Trichodesmium. Abundance and diversity of phytoplankton significantly differed seasonally. The diatoms Thalassionema and Pseudo-nitzschia, and cyanobacterium Trichodesmium contributed most to the community dissimilarities. Due to potentially higher nutrient supply in the south of Lembeh Strait, diatoms and dinoflagellates showed higher densities in the south than in the north of the strait.Though, cyanobacterium preferred distributing much evenly in all waters, it had higher density in the southern Lembeh Strait. Total phytoplankton abundance is quite low compared with the Jakarta Bay and some bays in China. Analysis showed that nutrients from upwelling forced by SE monsoon are the key factor varying the monthly phytoplankton abundances. Due to its primitive nature state, Lembeh water can be an ideal location for the study of pelagic ecosystem under merely the influence of macro environment changes with lower background noise from human activities.

Change in coral reef benthic communities in the Lembeh Strait and Likupang, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Anthropogenic impacts and natural disturbances have been intense recently in the global scale, affecting the composition of coral reef benthic communities from coral to algal dominated reefs. However, this condition does not always occur considering corals are able to recover when the stressors falter. This study aims to investigate the change in coral reef benthic communities and the relationship among benthic categories. The study was carried out in 2014 and 2016 at five sites, three sites in the Lembeh Strait and two sites in Likupang, North Sulawesi Province. Underwater Photo Transect(UPT) was used at depth of around 4–6 m in slope areas. The result indicated that the benthic communities were slightly changing: the percent covers of hard corals, sponges, soft corals, macroalgae and substrate categories were not significantly different between the years but category of others, particularly seasonally growing hydroid, increased significantly, occupying the available substrates and overtopping other benthos surrounding. The study also found that there was a significant relationship between the change in benthic gradient and the number of hard coral colonies: when the composition becomes less complex, the number of colony declines. In contrast, the hard coral diversity remained unchanged, suggesting the coral reefs apparently have an ecological resilience(sustainable species diversity) against the change although ecological complexity declines. In addition, the hard coral cover was significantly correlated with soft coral and sponge covers, which did not change significantly among the years. In general, the coral reefs in North Sulawesi might experience a temporary blip due to the increasing percent cover of others, and be predicted to recover as there was no indication of soft corals and sponges to increase significantly. However, it is necessary to investigate the dynamic of benthic communities in different depth gradients to gain a comprehensive understanding as the communities respond differently to the light intensity.

蓝碧海峡澄黄滨珊瑚群体遗传多样性

通过对印度尼西亚蓝碧海峡3个澄黄滨珊瑚(Porites lutea)地理群体(YM、YN、YS)的79个样本核糖体RNA转录单元内间隔区ITS基因(包括ITS1区和ITS2区)片段进行克隆、测序,探讨澄黄滨珊瑚的群体遗传多样性和遗传分化.结果表明:79条序列共获得63个单倍型,3个群体呈现出高的单倍型多样性(Hd=0.991 56)和高的核苷酸多样性(Pi=0.026 81).Tajima'D检验、Fu's Fs检验和岐点分布检验(mismatch analysis)推测种群经历了群体扩张事件.单倍型邻接关系树和单倍型网络图表明澄黄滨珊瑚群体没有明显的地理谱系结构.分子方差分析(AMOVA)表明群体间遗传变异占1.22%,群体内遗传变异占98.78%.群体间固定指数(Fst)的绝对值为0.012 2,表明群体间遗传分化较弱.各群体间的基因流值均大于4,说明澄黄滨珊瑚在当地群体间随机交配,基因交流十分充沛,各珊瑚群体间没有地理隔离,可以互相作为造礁珊瑚修复用的来源补充地.

Comparison of photosynthetic pigments and phytoplankton assemblages in two types of coastal regions in Southeast Asia-Indonesian Throughflow and river estuary

Water samples were collected in order to study the spatial variation of photosynthetic pigments and phytoplankton community composition in the Lembeh Strait(Indonesia) and the Kelantan River Estuary(Malaysia)during July and August 2016, respectively. Phytoplankton photosynthetic pigments were detected using high performance liquid chromatography combining with the CHEMTAX software to confirm the Chl a biomass and community composition. The Chl a concentration was low at surface in the Lembeh Strait, which it was 0.580–0.682 μg/L, with the average(0.620±0.039) μg/L. Nevertheless, the Chl a concentration fluctuated violently at surface in the Kelantan River Estuary, in which the biomass was 0.299–3.988 μg/L, with the average(0.922±0.992) μg/L. The biomass at bottom water was higher than at surface in the Kelantan River Estuary, in which the Chl a concentration was 0.704–2.352 μg/L, with the average(1.493±0.571) μg/L. Chl b, zeaxanthin and fucoxanthin were three most abundant pigments in the Lembeh Strait. As a consequence, phytoplankton community composition was different in the two study areas. In the Lembeh Strait, prasinophytes(26.48%±0.83%) and Synechococcus(25.73%±4.13%) occupied ～50% of the Chl a biomass, followed by diatoms(20.49%±2.34%) and haptophytes T8(15.13%±2.42%). At surface water in the Kelantan River Estuary, diatoms(58.53%±18.44%)dominated more than half of the phytoplankton biomass, followed by Synechococcus(27.27%±14.84%) and prasinophytes(7.00%±4.39%). It showed the similar status at the bottom water in the Kelantan River Estuary,where diatoms, Synechococcus and prasinophytes contributed 64.89%±15.29%, 16.23%±9.98% and 8.91%±2.62%,respectively. The different phytoplankton community composition between the two regions implied that the bottom up control affected the phytoplankton biomass in the Lembeh Strait where the oligotrophic water derived from the West Pacific Ocean. The terrigenous nutrients supplied the diatoms growing, and pico-phytoplankton was grazed through top down control in the Kelantan River Estuary.