M. Reckermann et Mjw. Veldhuis, TROPHIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PICOPHYTOPLANKTON AND MICROZOOPLANKTON AND NANOZOOPLANKTON IN THE WESTERN ARABIAN SEA DURING THE NE MONSOON 1993, Aquatic microbial ecology, 12(3), 1997, pp. 263-273
The grazing pressure of micro- and nanozooplankton on phytoplankton wa
s estimated in serial dilution experiments in the northwestern Arabian
Sea and its adjacent areas (the Somali Current, the Somali Basin, the
Gulf of Aden and the southern Red Sea) during the NE monsoon 1992-199
3. Microzooplankton grazing rates (g) on total phytoplankton (analyzed
as chi a) were generally exceeded by phytoplankton growth rates (g =
0.2 to 1.19 d(-1), mean 0.48 d(-1); mu = 0.52 to 1.12 d(-1), mean 0.72
d(-1)), resulting in an average daily consumption of 38 % of the phyt
oplankton standing stock and 67 % of the primary production. Microzoop
lankton grazing on 4 picophytoplankton groups (Prochlorococcus spp., S
ynechococcus spp., and 2 picoeukaryotes) analyzed by flow cytometry sh
owed growth (mu = 0.27 to 0.92 d(-1), mean 0.68 d(-1)) and grazing mor
tality rates (g = 0.26 to 0.73 d(-1), mean 0.67 d(-1)) well in balance
, with an average of 49 % of the standing stock and 102% of the primar
y production grazed per day. Picophytoplankton growth and grazing mort
ality rates increased dramatically when grazers >10 mu m were removed.
These results suggest a control of the small grazers by larger ones (
trophic cascade) and a close coupling between picoautotrophic prey and
small grazers. The trophic cascade within the microbial food web of t
he nanoplankton encompasses 3 trophic levels: picoplankton - small HNF
- larger flagellates and ciliates.