Mechanisms of phytoplankton adaptation to environmental variability in a shelf ecosystem

Phytoplankton absorption, pigments and active fluorescence were investigated at five focus sites in a shelf region during summer and winter to elucidate the adaptation of communities to changing environmental conditions. We determined that the availability of nutrients and changing irradiance were the key drivers of phytoplankton growth and photoacclimation in an ecosystem influenced by a warm western boundary current. Diatoms dominated the communities in the winter, while mixed diatom-flagellate populations generally prevailed in summer. Prokaryotes were dominant in the surface layer at one site where warm water flowed onto the shelf. Diatom and flagellate communities were associated with cooler, lower salinity water and prokaryotes with warm, higher salinity water. Populations appeared not be nutrient stressed and actively drew down silicates and nitrates, with nitrates being rapidly utilized resulting in low ambient nitrate levels in the upper water column. The phytoplankton acclimated to changing irradiance conditions by increasing the quantum yield of photochemistry with decreasing irradiance and adjusting the absorption of light by accessory pigments. Prokaryote dominated communities had high chlorophyll-specific absorption coefficients, and a high proportion of spectral absorption by chlorophyll a and photoprotective carotenoids. Diatoms had low chlorophyll-specific absorption and elevated absorption by photosynthetic carotenoids and chlorophyll c. Although flagellate-dominated communities had intermediate chlorophyll-specific absorption, their proportion of absorption by photosynthetic carotenoids and chlorophyll c was similar to the diatoms.