Search

Abstract—The research was carried out on cruise 79 of the R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh. The variability of the chlorophyll a specific light absorption coefficient of phytoplankton and the correlation coefficient for the fluorescence intensity and chlorophyll a concentration at various optical depths under ambient light intensity and after dark adaptation was studied. It was shown that in the absence of water stratification, there was no vertical variability in the chlorophyll a specific light absorption coefficient of phytoplankton. It was found that when measuring the intensity of chlorophyll a fluorescence with a submersible sensor, without preliminary dark adaptation, a decrease in the fluorescence intensity signal in the upper layer of water was observed, which was associated with the effect of light on the fluorescence quantum yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has been found that cell volumes of the Synechococcus sp. WH5701 strain of cyanobacteria, as well as the intracellular contents of chlorophyll a and C-phycocyanin, did not depend of the spectral qualities of light. Chlorophyll a specific light absorption coefficients by pigments at wavelengths of 438 and 678 nm in cells adapted to blue light were higher than in cells adapted to white light by 20 and 50%, respectively. It was found that the quantum yield and the cell growth rate of Synechococcus sp. WH5701 depended on the spectral composition of the light. The value of the maximum quantum yield was at a minimum under blue light adaptation and at a maximum under adaptation to red light. An inverse relationship was revealed between the chlorophyll a specific light absorption coefficients and the quantum yield of growth, because in cyanobacteria, unlike eukaryotic microalgae, photosynthesis and growth depend on quanta absorbed only by phycobilin pigments, but not by all pigments. This peculiarity depends on the specific structure and function of the photosynthetic apparatus of cyanobacteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a phytoplankton bloom on the change with depth of photosynthetically available radiation (PAR), the spectral downwelling irradiance in coastal waters, and the phytoplankton ability to absorb PAR in the sea is estimated. The 10-fold increase in the chlorophyll a concentration (from 0.4 to 4.0 mg/m3) during a diatom/ dinoflagellate bloom leads to a decrease in water transparency and a narrowing of the photosynthesis zone. As a consequence, the average PAR within the phytoplankton habitat layer is almost halved. A diatom/dinoflagellate bloom is accompanied by changes in the downwelling irradiance spectrum at the same PAR level (optical depths). The penetrating irradiance maximum near the bottom of the euphotic zone shifts to longer wavelengths (~550–600 nm) as compared to background conditions (~500–550 nm). The increase in diatom/dinoflagellate biomass and the concomitant change in the downwelling irradiance spectrum are accompanied by a decrease in the specific absorption coefficient of phytoplankton pigments up to about three times that under background conditions at the same optical depths. The downwelling irradiance spectrum at fixed optical depths and the ability of cells to absorb light change slightly as compared to background conditions when coccolithophores bloom. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bio-optical data, obtained during six cruises in the Black Sea carried out during periods of seasonal stratification in years between 1996 and 2016, have been used to parametrize phytoplankton light absorption () in the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM) layer located near the bottom of euphotic zone. Relationships between and the sum of chlorophyll-a and phaeopigment concentrations (Chl-a) differed from those for the summertime upper mixed layer (UML). Notably, chlorophyll a specific absorption coefficients () were lower in the DCM and more comparable with values typical for winter phytoplankton in the Black Sea. The spectral shapes in the DCM differed markedly from those in winter and in the summer UML, due to a shoulder at ~490 nm and a local maximum at ~550 nm corresponding to the absorption bands of phycourobilin and phycoerythrobilin. Light absorbing properties of phytoplankton in the DCM (amplitude and spectral shape of ) reflected physiological acclimation to local conditions on the cellular level and population shifts leading to changes in the biomass-dominant species, with Synechococcus spp. domination in the DCM. The parameterization of phytoplankton absorption in the DCM will enable refined spectral models of the downwelling radiance and primary production in the Black Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abundance and seasonal trophodynamics (specific growth rate, daily production, and grazing mortality) of the major picophytoplankton components, Synechococcus cyanobacteria (Syn) and picoeukaryotes (Pico-E), were studied at three stations in Sevastopol Bay and adjacent coastal waters (the Black Sea) in 2014 by flow cytometry and the dilution method. Pico-E abundance was shown to increase along the nutrient and pollution gradient from the coastal waters outside the bay (annual average of 7.3 ± 5.4 × 10 cells mL) to the eastern corner of the bay (28.7 ± 11.4 × 10 cells mL), while no relation was found between the water pollution status and Syn abundance (9.9 ± 8.7 × 10 cells mL; at all the stations, n = 27). Matter flows through the communities (daily production for Syn and Pico-E 06.6 and 09.3 µg C L day, respectively; grazing mortality for Syn and PicoE 0-3.6 and 0-21.2 µg C L day, respectively) were comparable to or even exceeded their biomass stocks (>0.05-6.8 and 0.9-26.5 µg C L for Syn and PicoE, respectively), indicating high biomass turnover rates. The highest flow-to-stock ratio (up to 6 for Syn) and a significant imbalance between daily production (P) and grazing mortality ( G) were observed in the most polluted and eutrophic waters of the bay in spring (Pico-E: P/G < 1) and late summer (Syn: P/G > 1). Black River inflow to the bay was hypothesized to be among the mechanisms maintaining this pronounced and long-term imbalance in the open system without any negative consequences for the picophytoplankton assemblages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]