Photosynthetic characteristics of Coral Sea picoplankton (<2µm size fraction)

Experiments were carries out in the Coral Sea in August-1984, October-November-1985, and February, 1986.Photosynthetic parameters were measured in living phytoplankton populations from the Coral sea during October - November 1985. This study aimed to compare photosynthesis irradiance (P-I) response of near surface and deep living picoplankton assemblages. Experiments were conducted using short midday incubations, and to counter any distortion by diurnal fluctuation in photosynthetic potential, time series experiments were also conducted to establish temporal patters of carbon uptake over the course of a day. P-I experiments were carried out at seven locations in the Coral Sea, where three locations used near-surface phytoplankton (10m) and four used phytoplankton from the deep chlorophyll maximum layer (>100m).Three time series experiments were conducted at Davies Reef and Old Reef located in the central Great Barrier Reef region, to establish relationships between photosynthesis measured in short-term mid-day incubations and estimated of daily production integrated from dawn-to-dusk series of contiguous short incubations. Data for these experiments can be found on Furnas MJ and Mitchell AW (1988) Phytoplankton primary production measurements in reef lagoons. AIMS Data Report. Australian Institute of Marine Science. (29 p.)

本实验于1984年8月、1985年10—11月及1986年2月在珊瑚海（Coral Sea）开展。1985年10—11月期间，研究人员针对珊瑚海海域的活体浮游植物种群测定了光合参数。本研究旨在对比近表层与深层微微型浮游植物（picoplankton）群落的光合-辐照度（P-I）响应特征。实验采用正午短期培养方式开展；为抵消光合潜能日波动带来的测算偏差，研究人员同时开展了时间序列实验，以探明单日碳吸收的时间动态模式。光合-辐照度实验在珊瑚海的7个站位展开，其中3个站位采集10米近表层浮游植物样本，剩余4个站位采集深层叶绿素最大层（>100米）的浮游植物样本。研究人员在大堡礁中部区域的戴维斯礁（Davies Reef）与奥尔德礁（Old Reef）开展了3组时间序列实验，以建立正午短期培养测得的光合速率与基于黎明至黄昏连续短期培养序列积分得到的日产量估算值之间的关联关系。本实验相关数据可参阅Furnas MJ与Mitchell AW（1988）发布的《礁湖浮游植物初级生产力测定》，该报告为澳大利亚海洋科学研究所（Australian Institute of Marine Science）的AIMS数据报告，全文共29页。