Response of phytoplankton to heavy cloud cover and turbidity in the northern Bay of Bengal

Jyothibabu, R and Arunpandi, N and Jagadeesan, L and Karnan, C and Lallu, K R and Vinayachandran, P N (2018) Response of phytoplankton to heavy cloud cover and turbidity in the northern Bay of Bengal. In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS, 8 .

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Abstract

An interesting physiological response of phytoplankton to large fluctuations in underwater photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) levels in the northern Bay of Bengal has been presented here. This study is primarily based on a 12-day time series observation in the northern Bay of Bengal during the peak Southwest Monsoon (July 2012), when the study region was recurrently exposed to alternating cloudy and sunny sky conditions. On overcast days, the PAR available underwater at the time series location (TSL) drastically decreased, with the noontime PAR at the surface water (2 m) usually being similar to 600 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) on sunny days and declining to similar to 50 mu mol m(-2) s(-1) on heavily overcast days. Closely linked with the sunny and cloudy days at TSL, chlorophyll a concentration in the water column showed noticeable features; it increased in the upper water column (surface-40 m) and decreased in the lower water column (41-80 m) on cloudy days, while the reverse was the case on sunny days. Based on in-situ and laboratory experimental data, it was observed that these temporal changes in the vertical distribution of chlorophyll a in the northern Bay of Bengal were due to the short-term physiological acclimation of phytoplankton to large changes in underwater PAR.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Publisher:	NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, MACMILLAN BUILDING, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON N1 9XW, ENGLAND
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belong to NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP, MACMILLAN BUILDING, 4 CRINAN ST, LONDON N1 9XW, ENGLAND
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change
Date Deposited:	08 Aug 2018 18:02
Last Modified:	08 Aug 2018 18:02
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/60374

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