Relationship between petroleum hydrocarbon and plankton in a mesocosm experiment

A mesocosm experiment was carried out from May 26 to June 1,1998 at the location of 30°52'N,122°36'E,the Changjiang Estuary,in order to measure the influence of petroleum hydrocarbon to the ecosystem,furthermore,to estimate the environmental capacity.In the experiment,it is found that the petroleum hydrocarbon can,in some degree,enhance the growth of diatom,but inhibit the growth of dinoflagellate.In general,the petroleum hydrocarbon can inhibit the growth of both phytoplankton and zooplankton,and can also inhibit the growth of total plankton (including phytoplankton and zooplankton) as well.A kinetic model was presented to estimate the uptake/release rate constants of petroleum hydrocarbon by plankton,and thereafter,the uptake and release rate constants (k₁,k₂),bioconcentration factor (BCF) as well as the petroleum hydrocarbon influenced uptake and release rate constants of nutrients by phytoplankton (k_up,k_rel) were obtained.The results imply that the bioconcentration of petroleum hydrocarbon by plankton is fairly large and petroleum hydrocarbon caused no significant influence on the uptake of N-NO₃,but significant influence on that of P-PO₄.In addition,the application of kinetic model for the bioconcentration of volatile organic toxic compound by organism suggests that the uptake of petroleum hydrocarbon by plankton was an important process for the environmental capacity of petroleum hydrocarbon.