Short-term variations in the pigment composition of a spring phytoplankton bloom from an enclosed experimental ecosystem

✍ Scribed by P. S. Ridout; R. J. Morris

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag
• Year: 1985
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 660 KB
• Volume: 87
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0025-3162
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00397000

✦ Synopsis

Phytoplankton samples taken during the spring bloom in the experimental enclosed ecosystem bags at Loch Ewe, Scotland, during 1983 were analysed for carotenoids and chlorophyll compounds using high-performance liquidchromatography (HPLC). Changes in the relative proportions of these pigments were related to day-to-day changes in the composition of the bloom and the physiological state of the algae. There is clear evidence for a change in the chlorophyllide a:chlorophyll a ratio, which reached a maximum as nutrient limitation occurred. No major qualitative changes in the carotenoid components were seen during the bloom; the relative proportion, however, of some carotenoids does provide useful information on the relative abundance of certain algal types in the phytoplankton.