title: Temporal variation of phytoplankton growth and grazing loss in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia.
abstract: Phytoplankton growth (μ) and grazing loss (g) rates were measured monthly by the Landry-Hassett dilution method over a 2-year period at both estuarine (Klang) and coastal water (Port Dickson) systems along the Straits of Malacca. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration ranged from 0.20 to 4.47 μg L(-1) at Klang except on two occasions when Chl a spiked above 10 μg L(-1). In contrast, Chl a concentrations were relatively stable at Port Dickson (0.14 to 2.76 μg L(-1)). From the rate measurements, μ was higher (t = 2.01, df = 43, p < 0.05) at Klang (0.30 to 2.26 day(-1)) than at Port Dickson (0.18 to 1.66 day(-1)), but g was not significantly different (p > 0.80). g ranged from 0.30 to 1.50 and 0.21 to 1.51 day(-1) at Klang and Port Dickson, respectively. In this study, grazing loss was coupled to phytoplankton growth, and the ratio of g/μ or grazing pressure which estimates the proportion of primary production grazed was 50% at Klang and lower than at Port Dickson (68%; t = 2.213, df = 36, p < 0.05). We found that the higher growth rates in a eutrophic system, i.e., Klang, were not matched by higher grazing loss, and this may have implications for the biogeochemical cycling in coastal waters.
authors: Laboratory of Microbial Ecology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors: Joon Hai
authors: JH
authors: Lim
authors: Choon Weng
authors: CW
authors: Lee
authors: Isao
authors: I
authors: Kudo
mesh_terms: D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000031:analogs & derivatives / Q000032:analysis; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008296:Malaysia; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000254:growth & development*; D062211:Spatio-Temporal Analysis
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll; C085815:chlorophyll a'