Chin J Plant Ecol ›› 2009, Vol. 33 ›› Issue (4): 689-697.DOI: 10.3773/j.issn.1005-264x.2009.04.007

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CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PHYTOPLANKTON COMMUNITY IN WETLANDS OF MACAO

LI Qiu-Hua1, HE Wei-Tian2,*(), CHEN Chuan3   

  1. 1Key Laboratory for Information System of Mountainous Area and Protection of Ecological Environment of Guizhou Province, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
    2Macao Ecological Society, Macao, China
    3School of Life Sciences, Guizhou Normal University, Guiyang 550001, China
  • Received:2009-01-06 Revised:2009-03-17 Online:2009-01-06 Published:2009-07-30
  • Contact: HE Wei-Tian

Abstract:

Aims Our objectives were to understand the structure of the phytoplankton community and the relationships between phytoplankton abundance and environmental factors in wetlands of Macao.
Methods Water and phytoplankton samples were collected in July and October 2007 and January 2008 at the four sites of Fai Chi Kei Bay, Taipa-colonva mudflats, Lotus Flower Bridge and Praia Grande Lake. Phytoplankton was fixed with formaldehyde with a final concentration of 3%-5% (v/v). Water temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen were measured in situ with 85-ⅡYSI Multiparameter Water Quality Monitor. Water transparency was determined with Secchi Disk Depth. Water pH was measured with pHS-3C acid-alkalinity parameter Water Quality Monitor. Chlorophyll a was obtained from a sample of 400 ml water filtered through a Whatman GF/A filter. Concentrations were determined after<8 h extraction in 90% acetone. Nutrient concentrations were measured by using GB3838-2002.
Important findings Cyanobacteria, chlorophytes and diatoms had the largest numbers of species. We identified 76 species of algae, including 13 species of Cyanophyta, 30 species of Chlorophyta and 25 species of Bacillariophyta. Maximum abundance was at Lotus flower bridge (3 922.33×104 cells·L-1) and maximum abundance of Cyanophyta was in July and Bacillariophyta was in January. Minimum abundance was at Praia Grande Lake (1.58×104 cells·L-1). Values of the Shannon-Wiener Index of diversity indicated that Fai Chi Kei Bay was seriously polluted in January and Lotus Flower Bridge in July and October, while others were little or moderately polluted. Water transparency was the most important environmental factor affecting phytoplankton dynamics at the four wetlands and was strongly positively correlated to Chlorophyta (r=0.683, p<0.05), Pyrrophyta (r=0.715, p<0.05), Cryptophyta (r=0.707, p<0.05) and Chrysophyta (r=0.701, p<0.05). Bacillariophyta was negatively correlated to pH value (r=-0.674, p<0.05) and positively correlated to total nitrogen (r=0.895, p<0.05), total phosphorus (r=0.920, p<0.05) and soluble reactive phosphorus (r=0.668, p<0.05).

Key words: phytoplankton, community structure, environmental factor, wetland, Macao