Variation of Bacteria Biomass and its Possible Controlling Factors in the East China Sea

Two surveys were performed for determining bacteria biomass (BB), temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a (chl-a) and nutrient concentrations at 11 stations with three sampling depths in the high-incidence regions of red tide in the East China Sea (ECS)in the spring of 2006. Temperature and salinity increased from nearshore to offshore region and from high latitude to low latitude in the two cruises of 2006. BB were between 0.3-5.2 mgC m-3 (about 2.1 mgC m-3 on average) and 0.2-6.0 mgC m-3 (about 2.7 mgC m-3on average) respectively in the two cruises. BB in the surface layer decreased from the Changjiang River estuary to high sea and from low latitude to high latitude. The results showed that bacterial growth was regulated by temperature, primary production and inorganic nutrient concentrations depending on different hydrographic conditions. In the surface and middle layers where the primary production can supply enough organic substrate, temperature was the main factor to control bacteria biomass. BB showed a good correlation between the surface and middle layers in both cruises. The distribution of nutrients during both cruises showed a similar decreasing trend from nearshore region and high latitude to offshore region and low latitude. High BB values were mainly recorded from samples in the middle layer where chl-a concentrations were also high, indicating primary production being strongly correlated with temperature over the ECS shelf. In the offshore area, phosphate and silicate became limiting factors for phytoplankton growth with indirect influence on BB. Bacteria played an important role in nitrogen regeneration process turning organic nitrogen to inorganic forms such as NH4+. The increasing ratio of NH4+/DIN could be a proof of that.