Interspecies competition for nutrients between Prorocentrum donghaiense Lu and Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve in mesocosm experiments

Three mesocosm experiments were conducted in the East China Sea during blooms of Prorocentrum donghaiense Lu in May of 1998, 2002 and 2003 to examine the role of nutrients in the formation of these harmful algae blooms (HABs). The results showed that there was interspecies competition between P. donghaiense and Skeletonema costatum (Grev.) Cleve. The cell number of P. donghaiense and S. costatum accounted for about 85% and 11% of the total cell number of phytoplankton respectively at the beginning of the experiment in May 1998. In May 2002, at the beginning of the experiment, the cell number of P. donghaiense accounted for 55% -66% of the total and S. costatum accounted for 32%-42%. The density of P. donghaiense and S. costatum was over 95% and 1%-5% respectively in May 2003. The results of these three mesocosm experiments showed that the dominant species in this specific community varied with different nutrient availability. Under low-phos-phate conditions, the dominant species was P. donghaiense, while S. costatum became dominant in phosphate-replete cases. The average growth rate (1.08 d^-1) of S. costatum in exponential growth phase was higher than that (0.39 d^-1) of P. donghaiense. In the mesocosm, S. costatum predominated in the mesocosm by its rapid growth. When phosphorus was depleted, the cell number of S. costatum dropped rapidly, while P. donghaiense Lu decreased more slowly. The results from mesocosm experiment may explain why:(1) P. donghaiense bloom usually occurs in May, when phosphate concentration is low; (2) the bloom of S. costatum appears in early spring and summer time, when nutrients increase with increasing Changjiang River (Yangtze River) runoff; (3) the bloom of S. costatum is short and that of P. donghaiense Lu can last more than a month in the East China Sea.