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，研究人员于珊瑚海对活体浮游植物（phytoplankton）种群开展光合参数测定。本研究旨在对比表层与深层超微型浮游生物（picoplankton）群落的光合-光强（P-I）响应特征。实验采用短时午间培养方式开展；为抵消光合潜能日波动可能造成的实验失真，同步开展了时间序列实验，以探明单日碳吸收的时间动态模式。

本次光合-光强（P-I）实验共在珊瑚海的7个采样站位开展，其中3个站位采集表层浮游植物（采样深度10m），另外4个站位采集深层叶绿素最大值层（>100m）的浮游植物。

研究人员在位于大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef）中部区域的戴维斯礁（Davies Reef）与老礁（Old Reef）开展了3次时间序列实验，以建立短时午间培养测得的光合速率，与基于黎明至黄昏连续短时培养序列积分得到的日初级生产力估算值之间的关联。本实验相关数据可参阅：Furnas MJ与Mitchell AW（1988）《礁湖浮游植物初级生产力测定（Phytoplankton primary production measurements in reef lagoons）》，AIMS数据报告，澳大利亚海洋科学研究所（Australian Institute of Marine Science, AIMS），共29页。