• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.151-162
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• 2013

Studies of the distribution of micro-phytoplankton community and chlorophyll a concentration have focused on the vertical profiles of marine environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity, sigma-t, light intensity, and dissolved oxygen in the continental slope on the east parts of East China Sea in the early summer of 2009. Water temperature showed a gradual reduction according to the depth. While the salinity was low in the surface layer showing a mixed down to the relatively subsurface layer, it was increased with an increase in the depth at the middle and bottom layers showing a maximum value at 150~200 m followed by a decreasing aspect afterwards, although the change was not large. The change of sigma-t was governed by the water temperature, and gradually increased in the surface layer with an increase in the depth, showing a value higher than in the surface layer by about 3 $kg/m^3$ at the bottom layer. Although the intensity of light was exponential reduced in the surface layer, the compensation depth was located at the depth of about 80m. The vertical profiles of chlorophyll a concentration was governed by the intensity rather than the changes in water temperature or salinity, exhibiting a maximum value at the compensation depth corresponding to 1% in the surface light intensity. The micro-phytoplankton communities consisted of 56 genera 103 species showing a relatively variety, while the standing crop was also changed to 112.0~470.0 cells/L in the pelagic environment, showing a maximum chlorophyll a concentration. Although a variety of dominant species appear at low dominance without dominant species appearing with a right-wing point in the phytoplankton communities, the silicoflagellate, Otactis otonaris at the station A and the dominance of 26% due to Leptocylindrus mediterraneus at the station C have been judged to be unusual. For community analysis of infinitesimal creatures such as phytoplankton of oligotrophic waters through the present study, ecology studies through vertical sample collection agreeing with the results of continuous observation such as identification of vertical distribution in a marine environment or of maximum chlorophyll layers have been considered rather than a survey method with intervals of a given depth such as surface, subsurface, middle and bottom layers.