Grazing impact of microzooplankton on phytoplankton in the Xiamen Bay using pigment-specific dilution technique

Phytoplankton group-specific growth and microzooplankton grazing were determined seasonally using the dilution technique with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) in the Xiamen Bay, a subtropical bay in southeast China, between May 2003 and February 2004. The results showed that growth rates of phytoplankton ranged from 0.71 to 2.2 d^-1 with the highest value occurred in the inner bay in May. Microzooplankton grazing rates ranged from 0.5 to 3.1 d^-1 with the highest value occurred in the inner bay in August. Microzooplankton grazing impact ranged from 39% to 95% on total phytoplankton Chl a biomass, and 65% to 181% on primary production. The growth and grazing rates of each phytoplankton group varied, the highest growth rate (up to 3.3 d^-1) was recorded for diatoms in August, while the maximum grazing rate (up to 2.1 d^-1) was recorded for chlorophytes in February in the inner bay. Among main phytoplankton groups, grazing pressure of microzooplankton ranged from 10% to 83% on Chl a biomass, and from 14% to 151% on primary production. The highest grazing pressure on biomass was observed for cryptophytes (83%) in August, while the maximum grazing pressure on primary production was observed for cyanobacteria (up to 151%) in December in the inner bay. Net growth rates of larger phytoplanktons (diatoms and dinoflagellates) were higher than those of smaller groups (prasinophytes, chlorophytes and cyanobacteria). Relative preference index showed that microzooplankton grazed preferentially on prasinophytes and avoided to harvest diatoms in cold seasons (December and February).