Quality and quantity of particulate organic Carbon in a coral reef at Tioman Island, Malaysia
The quality and quantity of particulate organic carbon (POC) were investigated in a fringing coral reef of Tioman Island, Malaysia to better understand the food sources for reef meso-zooplankton. Phytoplankton biomass in the water column was on average 0.22 (± 0.07) mg Chl-a m-3, of which picophytop...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
2011
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| Online Access: | http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3138/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3138/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/3138/1/07._R._Nakajima.pdf |
| Summary: | The quality and quantity of particulate organic carbon (POC) were investigated in a fringing coral reef of Tioman Island, Malaysia to better understand the food sources for reef meso-zooplankton. Phytoplankton biomass in the water column was on average 0.22 (± 0.07) mg Chl-a m-3, of which picophytoplankton was the most important (size <3 μm, 50-70% of the total Chl-a). The proportion of C biomass by phytoplankton and other plankton to particulate organic carbon (POC) was low (6% and 5%, respectively) and the major portion of POC was occupied by detritus (89%), suggesting that the diet of particle-feeding or suspension feeding meso-zooplankton would chiefly consist of detritus. |
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