Total and size fractionated phytoplankton biomass off Karatas, north-eastern Mediterranean coast of Turkey

Year 2007, Volume: 13 Issue: 2, 191 - 202, 01.08.2007

Sevim Polat Ayça (akiz) Aka

Abstract

Abstract The biomass of phytoplankton in terms of chlorophyll a was investigated in an Mediterranean coastal area, off Karatas. Data were obtained during four cruises conducted in July 2003, November 2003, February and May 2004. In addition to total chlorophyll a determination, chlorophyll a was fractionated into size classes as: <20 µm and >20 µm fractions. Inorganic nutrients were also determined. Total chlorophyll a values ranged from 0.10 to 7.43 µg l-1. The conributions of the <20 µm and >20 µm fractions to the total chlorophyll a were similar. The proportion of <20 µm fraction to total chlorophyll a ranged between 9% and 96%. On the other hand, the lowest proportion of >20 fraction to total chlorophyll a was 4 %, and the highest one was 91 %. Despite the dominancy of small sizes in the oligotrophic seas such as Mediterranean, the biomass of small size fraction was not higher than large size in the present study.

Keywords

Key words: Chlorophyll a, phytoplankton, size fraction, northeastern Mediterranean.

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