Characteristics of microphytobenthos biomass and production in the Ganghwa tidal flat, Korea

초록

Microphytobenthic biomass and primary production were studied at two sampling sites on the Ganghwa tidal flat from August 2006 to July 2008. Chlorophyll a content varied between 5.5 and 187.5 mgm-2, and chlorophyll a concentration were higher at Donggeom than Yeocha about 2.8 times. Both sampling sites showed large variation in chlorophyll a concentration during study period, influenced by sediment type, water content, organic matter, patchy distribution and etc. And no clear seasonal trend was observed both sites. Production was between 1.0 and 783.0 mgm-2d-1, and photosynthetic activity (PBm) was between 0.2 and 11.2 ×10-3 mgCmgChl a-1h-1. The production and PBm showed an increase during spring, which might be caused by increasing temperature, irradiance and day length. But the production and PBm decreased during summer and winter. The temperature of the sediments surface rose to more than 30℃ during summer, and dropped less than 10℃ during winter. Thus, microphytoebenthos in Ganghwa tidal flat were correlated with environmental factors, such as sediment type, irradiance, temperature, water content and etc.