Planktonic ciliate communities in a semi-enclosed bay of Yellow Sea, northern China: annual cycle

To reveal the annual patterns of planktonic ciliate communities, planktonic ciliate species composition, abundance and biomass, and responses to environmental conditions, were investigated during an annual cycle in Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, northern China. A total of 64 species belonging to five orders (Oligotrichida, Haptorida, Cyrtophorida, Hypotrichida and Tintinnida) were identified, 9 of which were dominant. Ciliate communities presented a clear seasonal pattern in terms of both abundance and biomass. A single peak of ciliate abundance and biomass occurred in late August, mainly due to the oligotrichids, tintinnids and haptorids. The 9 dominant species showed a distinct temporal distribution with seasonal successions of ciliate communities. Multivariate analyses revealed that ciliate abundance was significantly correlated with water temperature, dissolved oxygen and nutrients, especially nitrate nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphate (P < 0.05). These findings provided basic data on annual cycle of planktonic ciliate communities in a semi-enclosed bay of Yellow Sea, northern China.

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Annual variations in body-size spectra of planktonic ciliate communities and their relationships to environmental conditions: a case study in Jiaozhou Bay, northern China

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315412001075 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 93 (1) ◽

pp. 47-55 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Henglong Xu ◽

Yong Jiang ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Mingzhuang Zhu ◽

Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Body Size ◽

Water Temperature ◽

Environmental Conditions ◽

Jiaozhou Bay ◽

Northern China ◽

The Body ◽

The Yellow Sea ◽

Size Spectra ◽

Annual Variations ◽

Planktonic Ciliate

The annual variations in body-size spectra of planktonic ciliate communities and their relationships to environmental conditions were studied based on a 12-month dataset (June 2007 to May 2008) from Jiaozhou Bay on the Yellow Sea coast of northern China. Based on the dataset, the body sizes of the ciliates, expressed as equivalent spherical diameters, included five ranks: S1 (5–35 μm); S2 (35–55 μm); S3 (55–75 μm); S4 (75–100 μm); and S5 (100–350 μm). These body-size ranks showed a clear temporal succession of dominance in the order of S2 (January–April) → S1 (May–July) → S4 (August–September) → S3 (October–December). Multivariate analyses showed that the temporal variations in their body-size patterns were significantly correlated with changes in environmental conditions, especially water temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen concentration (DO) and nutrients. In terms of abundance, rank S2 was significantly correlated with water temperature, DO and nutrients, whereas ranks S4 and S5 were correlated with the salinity and nutrients respectively (P < 0.05). These results suggest that the body-size patterns of planktonic ciliate communities showed a clear temporal pattern during an annual cycle and significantly associated with environmental conditions in marine ecosystems.

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Are non-loricate ciliates a primary contributor to ecological pattern of planktonic ciliate communities? A case study in Jiaozhou Bay, northern China

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s0025315412000276 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 92 (6) ◽

pp. 1301-1308 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Yong Jiang ◽

Wei Zhang ◽

Mingzhuang Zhu ◽

Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid ◽

Henglong Xu

Keyword(s):

Jiaozhou Bay ◽

Northern China ◽

Temporal Variations ◽

Species Number ◽

Protozoan Community ◽

Planktonic Ciliate ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Soluble Reactive Phosphorous ◽

Ecological Pattern

The contribution of non-loricate ciliate assemblage to the ecological pattern of a ciliated protozoan community was studied based on a 1-year (June 2007–May 2008) dataset collected from Jiaozhou Bay, northern China. Samples were collected biweekly from five sampling sites. Results showed that: (1) the non-loricate ciliate assemblages were the primary components and significantly correlated with the total ciliate communities in terms of species number, abundance and biomass; (2) the ecological pattern of non-loricate ciliate assemblages was significantly related to that of both total ciliate communities and variations in environmental variables; and (3) spatio-temporal variations in biodiversity (richness, diversity and evenness of species) indices of non-loricate ciliate assemblages were significantly correlated with those of total ciliate communities and the environmental conditions, especially nutrients nitrate nitrogen, nitrite nitrogen and soluble reactive phosphorous. These results suggest that the non-loricate ciliates are a primary contributor to the ecological pattern of total ciliate communities and might be used as a potential bioindicator for bioassessment in marine ecosystems.

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Spatial and seasonal variations in the planktonic ciliate community and its relationship with environmental factors in Daya Bay, the South China Sea

Oceanological and Hydrobiological Studies ◽

10.1515/ohs-2017-0021 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Fengxia Wu ◽

Jianrong Huang ◽

Zhanhui Qi ◽

Honghui Huang

Keyword(s):

South China Sea ◽

South China ◽

Seasonal Variations ◽

The South China Sea ◽

Daya Bay ◽

China Sea ◽

Ciliate Community ◽

Ciliate Abundance ◽

Ciliate Species ◽

Planktonic Ciliate

AbstractPlanktonic ciliate composition, abundance and its response to environmental change were investigated during four seasons (winter of 2013, spring, summer and autumn of 2014) in Daya Bay, the South China Sea. A total of 41 species belonging to eight orders were identified, 14 of which were dominant. Planktonic ciliate communities showed a distinct seasonal pattern in ciliate abundance and a clear seasonal shift in the taxonomic composition. The largest number of ciliate species occurred in summer, whereas the highest abundance peaked in spring, mainly due to oligotrichids. In terms of spatial distribution, ciliate species were abundant in the area of artificial reefs, and ciliate abundance was higher in the Dapeng Cove aquaculture area and lower at the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Station. Clustering analysis demonstrated that the seasonal variations of the ciliate community structure were more obvious than spatial variations. Multivariate and univariate analyses illustrated that ciliate abundance was significantly correlated with the water nutrient level and chlorophyll-

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Seasonal shift in community pattern of periphytic ciliates and its environmental drivers in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China

Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom ◽

10.1017/s002531541400143x ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 95 (2) ◽

pp. 277-288 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Wei Zhang ◽

Henglong Xu

Keyword(s):

Seasonal Variation ◽

Coastal Waters ◽

Yellow Sea ◽

Winter Season ◽

Northern China ◽

The Yellow Sea ◽

Environmental Drivers ◽

Species Number ◽

Community Structures ◽

Ciliate Species

Ciliates are a primary component of the periphyton microfauna and play a crucial role in the functioning of microbial food webs. Seasonal variation in community structures of periphytic ciliate communities was studied, using glass slides as an artificial substratum, during a 1-year cycle (August 2011–July 2012) in coastal waters of the Yellow Sea, northern China. Samples were collected monthly at a depth of 1 m from four sampling stations. A total of 144 ciliate species representing 78 genera, 43 families, 17 orders and eight classes were recorded. Among these species, 31 distributed in all four seasons, while 11, 11, 13 and two forms occurred only in spring, summer, autumn and winter season, respectively. The species number and total abundance peaked in spring and autumn, with minimum values in winter. Ciliate community structures differed significantly between seasons, and were significantly correlated with the changes in environmental variables, especially temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen (DO) and the nutrients. Of 36 dominant species (top 15 ranked contributors in each season), nine (e.g. Pseudovorticella paracratera, Trochilia minuta and Zoothamnium sp.) were significantly correlated with pH, DO or nutrients. Species richness, evenness and diversity measures were significantly correlated with temperature, pH, DO or soluble reactive phosphates. Results demonstrated that periphytic ciliates exhibited a clear seasonal variation in community structures in response to environmental conditions and potentially might be used as a robust bioindicator for assessing environmental quality status in coastal waters.

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