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Temporal variation of phytoplankton growth and grazing loss in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia

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Abstract

Phytoplankton growth (μ) and grazing loss (g) rates were measured monthly by the Landry-Hassett dilution method over a 2-year period at both estuarine (Klang) and coastal water (Port Dickson) systems along the Straits of Malacca. Chlorophyll a (Chl a) concentration ranged from 0.20 to 4.47 μg L−1 at Klang except on two occasions when Chl a spiked above 10 μg L−1. In contrast, Chl a concentrations were relatively stable at Port Dickson (0.14 to 2.76 μg L−1). From the rate measurements, μ was higher (t = 2.01, df = 43, p < 0.05) at Klang (0.30 to 2.26 day−1) than at Port Dickson (0.18 to 1.66 day−1), but g was not significantly different (p > 0.80). g ranged from 0.30 to 1.50 and 0.21 to 1.51 day−1 at Klang and Port Dickson, respectively. In this study, grazing loss was coupled to phytoplankton growth, and the ratio of g/μ or grazing pressure which estimates the proportion of primary production grazed was 50 % at Klang and lower than at Port Dickson (68 %; t = 2.213, df = 36, p < 0.05). We found that the higher growth rates in a eutrophic system, i.e., Klang, were not matched by higher grazing loss, and this may have implications for the biogeochemical cycling in coastal waters.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the University of Malaya for the grants (UM.C/625/1/HIR/050, RU006D-2014 and PV060/2011B) that supported this work. We also thank the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation for the eScience grant (04-01-03-SF0671) and the Ministry of Education for the HiCoE grant (IOES-2014D).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Microbial Ecology, Institute of Biological Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Joon Hai Lim & Choon Weng Lee

  2. Institute of Ocean and Earth Sciences, University of Malaya, 50603, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Choon Weng Lee

  3. Graduate School of Fisheries Sciences, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan

    Isao Kudo

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  1. Joon Hai Lim
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Correspondence to Choon Weng Lee.

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Lim, J.H., Lee, C.W. & Kudo, I. Temporal variation of phytoplankton growth and grazing loss in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Environ Monit Assess 187, 246 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10661-015-4487-5

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