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Analysis of plankton in the southern Great Barrier Reef: abundance and roles in throphodynamics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Yu. I. Sorokin  and
P. Yu. Sorokin
Yu. I. Sorokin*
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia 4067, Queensland, Australia
P. Yu. Sorokin
Affiliation:
Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Queensland, St Lucia 4067, Queensland, Australia
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Y.I. Sorokin, Southern Branch of Oceanology Institute RAS, Gelendzhik Krasnodar District, 353467, Russia email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Wet biomass of principal plankton components and whole plankton standing stock were assessed in waters of the Heron Island ring reef and surrounding deep lagoon. Biomass of phytoplankton ranged between 30 to 120 mg m−3, without its pronounced depletion over the reef shallows. Picocyanobacteria and prochlorophyte algae contributed over 70% of this biomass. Biomass of bacterioplankton varied between 75 to 340 mg m−3, with its maximum over the reef flat. Biomass of planktonic protozoa's ciliates and zooflagellates ranged between 20 to 110 mg m−3. The daytime biomass of zooplankton varied between 490 to 1590 mg m−3 in the deep lagoon in the zone of intense tidal currents. Over the reef shallows, it was 10–20 mg m−3. At night, it rose there up to 800 to 4000 mg m−3 as the result of emerging demersal zooplankton from the benthic substrates. The time scale of nocturnal emerging by different taxa was also documented. Biomass of whole demersal zooplankton communities hiding by the daytime in bottom substrates at the reef flat was found to be over 100 g m−2. Problems of nutrition planktivore reef fauna related to the plankton production and abundance are discussed.

Keywords

reefmicroplanktonbacterioplanktonmesoplanktontrophodynamicsdemersalsHeron reef
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 89 , Issue 2 , March 2009 , pp. 235 - 241
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

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Footnotes

Present address: Southern Branch of Oceanology Institute, RAS, Gelendzhik, Krasnodar District, 353467, Russia

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