Effect of a cyclonic eddy on phytoplankton: A bioassay experiment

Abstract

Cyclonic eddies often increase the primary productivity of marine ecosystems. However, the study of their influence on the taxonomic structure and productivity of plankton is complex due to the short‐term and mesoscale nature of the action of eddies. In a laboratory bioassay experiment, we simulated two mechanisms of eddy's effect on the deep phytoplankton maximum: an increase in the upward flow of deep nutrients and illumination. Doubling of nutrient additions compared to control increased chlorophyll's specific growth rate (SGR) 1.7‐fold over 12 days while doubling the light intensity increased SGR by 3.5 times. During the first 4 days of the experiment, at the exponential growth stage, SGR of carbon biomass was maximum with the simultaneous doubling of nutrients and light (0.44 day−1). It was statistically significantly higher than at increased nutrients but not light. These results suggest that nutrient deficiencies were less crucial for phytoplankton growth than light. The increase in the phytoplankton biomass was mainly due to the growth of a large‐celled diatom Pseudosolenia calcar‐avis. It showed the highest SGR (1.15–1.28 day−1) at increased nutrients and/or light, resulting in high wet biomass of 2–3 g m−3 over 4 days. The ecological meaning of the obtained results is as follows. First, in the eddy, where the deep phytoplankton maximum is located close to the nutricline, its rise to more illuminated layers results in higher phytoplankton growth than the shortening distance to the nutricline. Second, increases in the upward flow of nutrients and light intensity, separate or simultaneous, stimulate the rapid reproduction of large‐celled diatoms that increase the carbon‐to‐chlorophyll ratio by 2–4 times. Third, exposure to a typical Black Sea mesoscale cyclonic eddy can lead to phytoplankton blooms in the thermocline within a few days.