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The nannoplankton diversity around Madeira: a first contribution
Abstract
In order to get a first overview of the nannoplankton flora around Madeira Island (subtropical Northeast Atlantic) three water samples were collected on the south coast (32°37.46’ N, 016°56.19’ W) at three different depths (15, 25 and 100 m) on one single occasion in October 2000. Hydrographic measurements showed that the first two sampling depths, which corresponded to the 55 and 33% light depth (LD; in relation to the incidental light at the surface), respectively, lied above a pycnocline of about 30 m thickness, whereas the third sampling depth (1% LD) lied below that near to the seabed. A total of 37 different species of coccolithophorids (Haptophyta: Prymnesiophyceae) were observed at the shallower depths, whereas the third depth showed mainly debris due to the vicinity to the seabed. This single sampling event seems to confirm the high diversity of coccolithophorids typical for subtropical waters such as those around Madeira. The observed species are characteristic for the upper photic zone which could be limited in the depth by the strong pycnocline found.
Supplementary resource (1)
... Narciso, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 223 (2019) 25-38 developed by Kaufmann (2004) and Kaufmann et al. (2015), representing data from the south coast of this island. The present work significantly expands the knowledge on the abundance, distribution and variability in coccolithophores around the whole Madeira archipelago. ...
... Narciso, et al. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 223 (2019) 25-38 developed by Kaufmann (2004) and Kaufmann et al. (2015), representing data from the south coast of this island. The present work significantly expands the knowledge on the abundance, distribution and variability in coccolithophores around the whole Madeira archipelago. ...
In order to characterize the coccolithophore community around the Madeira archipelago and to understand the effect of a transient frontal zone on its distribution, 149 seawater samples from the first 150 m were collected in 37 stations, during the research cruise POS466 of RV Poseidon. The present study revealed the occurrence of two biogeographic domains, NE and SW, during the late winter of 2014, with distinct physical-chemical and calcareous nannoplankton characteristics. The NE sector was characterized by higher coccolithophore cell densities (mean of 56 × 103 cell L−1) and a slightly lower diversity (Margalef diversity index of 1.80) when compared with the SW sector (mean of 47 × 103 cell L−1; Md index of 1.86). The more productive sector, NE, was associated with colder, less saline and higher nutrient content water masses, linked to the injection of a westerly flow with origin in the Azores frontal system.
Total cell densities ranged between 12 × 103 and 112 × 103 cell L−1, being Emiliana huxleyi the dominant species followed by small Gephyrocapsa. The most common and subordinate taxa, in order of decreasing abundance, were: Gephyrocapsa oceanica, Michaelsarsia spp., Syracosphaera spp., Umbilicosphaera spp. and Algirosphaera robusta. Relationships between environmental conditions and temporal and vertical variability in coccosphere abundance, associated E. huxleyi and small Gephyrocapsa with the more productive water mass conditions, linked to the thermohaline transient front. G. oceanica distribution indicated its preference for warmer and less turbulent coastal waters, when compared to E. huxleyi and small Gephyrocapsa. Michaelsarsia spp. and A. robusta revealed preference for the northwest coast of Madeira, associated with mesotrophic conditions of the water column. Syracosphaera spp. and Umbilicosphaera spp. were well distributed throughout the archipelago and along the sampled depths, from the coast to open ocean conditions, as well as from lower to higher productive zones, displaying affinities for the meso to oligotrophic conditions, typical of these subtropical waters. The broad depth range of several taxa and the nonexistence of the coccolithophore vertical succession were the result of homogeneous and generalized well-mixed surface layer during the present survey.
... More recently, own sampling and observations added substantially to the numbers of phytoplankton taxa in Madeira (Table 1, Fig. 2). In October 2000 and July 2004, with only a few water samples from the south coast of Madeira Island, over 50 taxa of coccolithophores could be identified (Table 1, Kaufmann (2004)). Several of them were observed with different life cycle phases, formerly considered separate species (e.g. ...
A list of phytoplankton taxa off Madeira Island (Northeast Atlantic) is provided, including historical records dating back to 1845. A total of 473 taxa was reported, with diatoms representing the main component of the phytoplankton community around Madeira Island with 55%, followed by the dinoflagellates with 33%, the haptophytes with 11%, cyanophytes with 1% and one planktonic chlorophyte. Compared to species numbers of the World Ocean, where diatoms equals more or less dinoflagellates, a discrepancy is observed. This could be due to the still scarce number of taxonomic studies dealing with phytoplankton. However, it provides a baseline for further studies of the regional marine phytoplankton community composition. It also constitutes valuable basic information for future assessments within management instruments like the European Water Framework Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and national regulations concerning marine food safety in light of first reports of Harmful Algae Blooms and related intoxications.
This revised edition is designed to lead the reader through a stepwise progression from the distribution of marine organisms, to discussions on trophic relations, to a final chapter on some practical applications of biological oceanography to fisheries and pollution problems. It covers subject matter in the pelagic and benthic environments. Major changes in the 3rd edition include a complete rewrite of Chapter 7 on 'Some practical problems in biological oceanography' in order to bring out the current relevance of an ecosystem approach to fisheries and pollution problems; inclusion of a new section on water mass movement relative to phytoplankton production; improved information on the feed of zooplankton and a rewrite of Chapter 6 on 'Benthic communities'. -from Publisher
Holococcolithophorids formed half of the total number of species of the 1985 summer coccolithophorid flora in surface waters of the Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea and North Atlantic. They showed highest frequencies under oligotrophic conditions.Fifty-four taxa of holococcolithophorids were identified. They are illustrated by SEM-micrographs. Three new genera,Calicasphaera gen. nov.,Poricalyptra gen. nov. andPoritectolithus gen. nov., with two new types of holococcoliths, calicaliths and fragarioliths, are described. The genusAnthosphaera Kamptner is emended. Eleven species and eight types in open nomenclature are new to science. One species is revised and new combinations are proposed for eight species, while new ranks are given to three holococcolith stages of species that may also bear heterococcoliths.The holococcolith-bearingCalcidiscus leptoporus f.rigidus (Gaarder) stat. nov. and the heterococcolith-bearingCalcidiscus leptoporus (Murray and Blackman) Loeblich and Tappan f.leptoporus are two stages in the life cycle of one and the same species.
Much effort is being spent on estimating phytoplankton productivity and their role in sequestering CO2. Most of the time these estimates are based on chlorophyll a determination either from satellite spectral data or from ground truthing. No appreciable increase in microplankton standing crops occurred at stations which have high chlorophyll a contents, indicating that chlorophyll a peaks may have been associated with another group of organisms such as picoplankton which do not produce hard parts.
Members of the Haptophyta from British waters have been listed in a number of check-lists between 1953 and 1976 (Parke, 1953; Parke & Dixon, 1964, 1968, 1976), but there has been no attempt to draw the records together on a world-wide basis. However, a recent review of the classification system of the coccolithophorids included a check-list of all species thought to be extant from marine, coastal and freshwater habitats (Jordan & Kleijne, 1994). At the same time, two ambitious projects, the Encyclopaedia of Algal Genera (ed. B.C. Parker, in preparation) and the preparation of a CD-ROM retrieval system for information on algal and protist groups by the Expert-Centre for Taxonomic Identification (ETI), have required further collation of the available records (see Note 1), and, as a result, we have now extended the scheme of Jordan & Kleijne (1994) to include a global list of all extant haptophytes.(Received July 16 1993)(Accepted October 03 1993)