scholarly journals Phytoplankton and environmental variables as a water quality indicator for the beaches at Matrouh, south-eastern Mediterranean Sea, Egypt: an assessment

Oceanologia ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 819-836 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samiha M. Gharib ◽  
Zeinab M. El-Sherif ◽  
Ahmed M. Abdel-Halim ◽  
Ahmed A. Radwan
Keyword(s):  
Water Quality ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Quality Indicator ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Water Quality Indicator ◽  
South Eastern

Composition and distribution patterns of eukaryotic microbial plankton in the ultra-oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea

2020 ◽  
Vol 84 ◽  
pp. 155-173
Author(s):  
I Santi ◽  
P Kasapidis ◽  
S Psarra ◽  
G Assimakopoulou ◽  
A Pavlidou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Deep Sea ◽  
Environmental Variables ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Operational Taxonomic Units ◽  
Microbial Eukaryotes ◽  
Levantine Basin ◽  
Microbial Plankton

Marine microbial eukaryotes play crucial roles in water-column ecosystems; however, there are regional gaps in the investigation of natural microbial eukaryote communities, and uncertainties concerning their distribution persevere. This study combined 18S rRNA metabarcoding, biomass measurements and statistical analyses of multiple environmental variables to examine the distribution of planktonic microbial eukaryotes at different sites and water layers in the ultra-oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean Sea (Western Levantine Basin). Our results showed that microbial eukaryotic communities were structured by depth. In surface waters, different sites shared high percentages of molecular operational taxonomic units (MOTUs), but this was not the case for deep-sea communities (≥1000 m). Plankton biomass was significantly different among sites, implying that communities of a similar composition may not support the same activity or population size. The deep-sea communities showed high percentages of unassigned MOTUs, highlighting the sparsity of the existing information on deep-sea plankton eukaryotes. Water temperature and dissolved organic matter significantly affected community distribution. Micro-eukaryotic distribution was additionally affected by the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio and viral abundance, while nano- and pico-communities were affected by zooplankton. The present study explores microbial plankton eukaryotes in their natural oligotrophic environment and highlights that, even within restricted oceanic areas, marine plankton may follow distribution patterns that are largely controlled by environmental variables.

scholarly journals Microbial communities in an ultra-oligotrophic sea are more affected by season than by distance from shore

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Markus Haber ◽  
Dalit Roth Rosenberg ◽  
Maya Lalzar ◽  
Ilia Burgsdorf ◽  
Kumar Saurav ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Microbial Community ◽  
Microbial Communities ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Community Composition ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Microbial Community Composition ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
South Eastern ◽  
Structure And Activity

AbstractMarine microbial communities vary seasonally and spatially, but these two factors are rarely addressed together. We studied temporal and spatial patterns of the microbial community structure and activity along a coast to offshore transect from the Israeli coast of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea (EMS) over six cruises, in three seasons of two consecutive years. The ultra-oligotrophic status of the South Eastern Mediterranean Sea was reflected in the microbial community composition that was dominated by oligotrophic microbial groups such as SAR11 throughout the year, even at the most coastal station sampled. Seasons affected microbial communities much more than distance from shore explaining about half of the observed variability in the microbial community, compared to only about 6% that was explained by station. However, the most coastal site differed significantly in community structure and activity from the three further offshore stations in early winter and summer, but not in spring. Our data on the microbial community composition and its seasonality from a transect into the South Eastern Levantine basin support the notion that the EMS behaves similar to open gyres rather than an inland sea.

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