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Original Article

Effects of Asian dust input on eukaryotic phytoplankton community structure in the open areas in the Northwestern Pacific Ocean

, , , , &
Pages 49-60 | Received 29 Nov 2017, Accepted 31 Oct 2018, Published online: 05 Apr 2019
 

ABSTRACT

To study the effects of aerosol particulates originated from Asian dust on the growth of eukaryotic phytoplankton in the oligotrophic open ocean, we conducted deck-board incubation experiments in the oligotrophic region of Northwestern Pacific Ocean (NWPO). Our results showed that when dust was added at a concentration of 2 mg/L (Dust-2), the NO3N concentration increased by 3.2 fold, and chlorophyll a (chl a) concentration of nano- and micro-eukaryotic phytoplankton increased, while that of pico-eukaryotic phytoplankton did not change significantly. The microphytoplankton abundance increased but the species number decreased in Dust-2. Community structure of eukaryotic microphytoplankton also changed after dust addition. The abundance of diatoms in Dust-2 (23,072 cells/L) was 4.0 fold of that in the control (5750 cells/L), and 2.4 fold of that in Dust-1 (0.2 mg/L of dust addition) (9425 cells/L) at the 7th day of incubation. Abundance of dinoflagellates decreased in Dust-2, being 42.2% that of the control at the 7th day of the incubation. Effects of dust addition on the growth of phytoplankton differed among the dominant genera: growth of Pseudo-nitzschia and Chaetoceros were promoted while that of Prorocentrum was inhibited, and growth of Thalassiosira, Heterocapsa and Scrippsiella was not influenced significantly. The growth of nano- and pico-eukaryotic phytoplankton was promoted, with the cell abundance in Dust-2 2.4 fold of that in control. Our results indicated that Asian dust-originated aerosol particulates could provide nutrients to the oligotrophic NWPO, increase the marine productivity in the area, and alter the eukaryotic phytoplankton community structure.

SUBJECT EDITOR:

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Basic Research Program of China [grant number 2014CB953701], Funds for Major International Cooperation and Exchange of the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 41210008].

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