ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Mar. Sci.

Sec. Coastal Ocean Processes

Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmars.2025.1603340

This article is part of the Research TopicAdvanced Monitoring, Modelling, and Analysis of Coastal Environments and EcosystemsView all 29 articles

Dynamics of Phytoplankton in Estuaries and Changes in Environmental Driving Factors: A Study of Lianzhou Bay in Guangxi, China

Provisionally accepted
Youyin YeYouyin Ye1Yongqiang TianYongqiang Tian2Qianqian ZhouQianqian Zhou1Yanghang ChenYanghang Chen1Yu WangYu Wang1Bingpeng XingBingpeng Xing1Cun JiaCun Jia1Peng XiangPeng Xiang1*Xuebao HeXuebao He1*
  • 1Third Institute of Oceanography, MNR, Xiamen, China
  • 2Environmental Monitoring Center Station in Fujian Province, Xiamen, China

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To investigate the impact of freshwater discharge variations from the Nanliu River on the phytoplankton community structure in Lianzhou Bay, we conducted surveys of total chlorophyll-a (Tchl-a) concentrations and specific pigment groups during wet and dry seasons of 2016. During wet season, freshwater discharge introduced substantial freshwater, nutrients, and suspended particulate matter into Lianzhou Bay. Due to reduced light availability, Tchl-a concentrations at most stations were lower compared to dry season. The result indicated that light availability often exerts a greater influence than nutrient availability in estuarine environments. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of Tchl-a concentrations in Lianzhou Bay is correlated with the feeding activities of bivalve aquaculture and water movement within the bay. During the highwater period, the phytoplankton community was primarily composed of diatoms (35.0%), cyanobacteria (21.0%), prasinophytes (13.0%), chlorophytes (19.0%), and cryptophytes (11.0%). In contrast, the low-water period saw a phytoplankton community dominated by diatoms (62.0%), prasinophytes (18.0%), cyanobacteria (12.0%), and cryptophytes (7.0%). The absence of osmotic regulation in chlorophytes restricts their distribution primarily to estuarine environments characterized by high water availability. In contrast, diatoms exhibit a greater affinity for well-illuminated conditions, thereby contributing significantly to primary productivity in neritic zones and during periods of low water flow.

Keywords: pigments, Phytoplankton, community structure, Seasonal variation, Brackish bay

Received: 31 Mar 2025; Accepted: 14 May 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Ye, Tian, Zhou, Chen, Wang, Xing, Jia, Xiang and He. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Peng Xiang, Third Institute of Oceanography, MNR, Xiamen, China
Xuebao He, Third Institute of Oceanography, MNR, Xiamen, China

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