Phytoplankton pigment pattern in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum in the South Java coastal upwelling system, Indonesia

摘要

Upwelling occurs on the coast of Java between June and October, forced by local alongshore winds associated with the southeasterly monsoon. This causes variations in phytoplankton community composition in the upwelling zone compared with the surrounding offshore area. Based on pigments analysis with subsequent calculations of group contributions to total chlorophylla (Chla) using CHEMTAX, we studied the distribution and composition of phytoplankton assemblages in the subsurface chlorophyll maximum along the south coast of Java and the influence of upwelling. Nineteen phytoplankton pigments were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography, and CHEMTAX analysis associated these to ten major phytoplankton groups. The phytoplankton community in the coastal area influenced by upwelling was characterized by high Chla and fucoxanthin concentrations, indicating the dominance of diatoms. In contrast, in the offshore area, the Chla and fucoxanthin concentrations declined to very low levels and the community was dominated by haptophytes represented by 19′-Hexanoyloxyfucoxanthin. Accordingly, microphytoplankton was found to be the major size class in the coastal area influenced by upwelling, while nanophytoplankton was most abundant in the offshore area. Low concentrations of other accessory pigments indicated less contribution from dinoflagellates, prasinophytes, chlorophytes and cryptophytes. Photo-pigment indices revealed that photosynthetic carotenoids (PSCs) were the largest component of the pigment pool, exceeding the proportion of Chla, with the average PSCTP up to 0.62. These distribution trends can mainly be explained by phytoplankton adaption strategies to upwelling and subsurface conditions by changing species composition and adjusting the pigment pool.