Role of plankton in the turnover of organic matter on the Great Barrier Reef, Australia

✍ Scribed by Y. I. Sorokin

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 618 KB
• Volume: 308
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-5141
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00037785

✦ Synopsis

Number, biomass and production of phytoplankton, bacteria, micro-and mesozooplankton and turnover of labile and stable organic matter were measured in waters over some Capricornia round reefs, and over the reefs of Lizard Island . Primary production was 10 to 40 mg C m -3 d -1 but was lower over the living reefs . Microbial wet biomass in reef waters varied from 100 to 500 mg m -3 , and production from 4 to 68 mg C m -3 d -1 , which was commensurable with primary production . The biomass of microzooplankton (ciliates, zooflagellates and larvae) in waters of Lizard Island reefs reached 100-300 mg m -3 . Mesozooplankton biomass at night in reef waters of Heron Island varied from 200 to 800 mg m -3 . Its composition depended upon the tide phase . P/B coefficients in bacterioplankton were 0 .3 to 1 .2 per day . The food demand of bacterioplankton in waters over the reefs was 5 to 20 times higher than the primary phytoplankton production . Labile organic matter (LOM) doubled in waters after it stayed over living reef for several hours . The turnover time of LOM in reef waters was as short as 1-2 weeks .