Distribution characteristics of size-fractionated chlorophyll a and primary productivity in Beibu Gulf

The distribution of the abundance of phytoplankton, chlorophyll a (Chl.a) concentration and primary productivity in the Beibu Gulf were observed from May 23 to June 4, 1994.The results show that there were marked featares of spatial zonation in the survey area due to the differences between the geographic environment and the hydrological conditions.Chlorophyll a and primary productivity were higher in the inshore than in the middle area and higher in the north than in the south of the Beibu Gulf.The average concentration of Chl.a, primary productivity and the abundance of phytoplankton were 0.94±0.45 μg/dm³, 351±172 mg/(m²·d) (C) and 0.97×10⁴-10.050×10⁴ ind./m³ in the area, respectively.There were 176 species belonging to 4 phyla and 56 genera based on microscope identification.The results of the size-fractionation show that the contribution of nanoplankton and picoplankton was 77% to total Chl.a and 91% to total primary productivity, which proved their importance to phytoplankton communities in the Beibu Gulf.