Chemometric study of spatial variations of environmental and ecological characteristics in the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) Estuary and adjacent waters

Chemometric approach based on principal component analysis (PCA) was utilized to examine the spatial variances of environmental and ecological characteristics in the Zhujiang River (Pearl River) Estuary and adjacent waters (ZREAW) in the South China Sea. The PCA result shows that the ZREAW can be divided into different zones according to the principal components and geographical locations of the study stations, and indicates that there are distinct regional variances on environmental features and the corresponding phytoplankton biomass and community structures among different areas. The spatial distribution of ecological features was implied to be influenced by various degrees of the different water resources, such as the Pearl River discharges, the coastal current and the oceanic water from the South China Sea. The variation of the biomass maximum zone and the complex impacts on the spatial distributions of phytoplankton biomass and production were also evaluated.