Pigment composition and size distribution of phytoplankton community in the inner part of İzmir Bay

14399

Izmir Bay has been one of most polluted bays of Mediterranean for a long time. After “Big Channel Project” completed in 2000, sewage flow to the bay has been avoided. Monthly samplings of sea water were performed. Basic oceanographical variables and nutrients were measured. Besides, phytoplankton community was arrayed into size fractions to assess the contribution of each size fractions to biomass and pigment concentrations. Minimum and maximum values of nutrient concentrations and pigments were found to be 2.20-30.22 μM for total inorganic nitrogen (TIN); 1.99-41.94 μM for silicate; 0.00-5.96 μM for phosphate; 5.03-30.26 μg l^-1 for chlorophyll a, 0.52-33.54 μg l^-1 for chlorophyll b, 14.71-182.66 μg l^-1 for chlorophyll c and 0.00-22.58 μg l^-1 for carotenoids. Nanoplankton were found to be dominant phytoplankton group in the inner bay. An increment of picoplankton was detected towards the outside of the bay. According to Principal component analyses (PCA), picoplankton pigments are most important components for inner bay.

103

İzmir Bay , phytoplankton size fractions , phytoplankton pigments , nutrient , Big Channel Project.

Ege Journal Of Fisheries an‎d Aquatic Sciences

112

Ege Journal Of Fisheries an‎d Aquatic Sciences