Research Information System
5. Baskent International Conference on Multidisciplinary Studies, Ankara, Turkey, 21 - 22 December 2023, pp.411-415
Coccolithophores are a group of autotrophic nanoplankton within the class Haptophyceae
(Prymensiophyceae). They are the most important marine microbial calcifiers contributing to downward
flux of biogenic carbon, in particulate organic and inorganic forms. Among 200 extant coccolithophore
species Emiliania huxleyi (Lohmann) Hay and Mohler is a frequently blooming coccolithophorid and
has a cosmopolitan distribution. It blooms in the Black Sea and the Turkish Straits System (TSS), usually
around late spring early summer period. The Dardanelles as part of the TSS also harbours extensive
blooms of E. huxleyi and autotrophic nanoplankton as a significant component of its phytoplankton.
Particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) concentration is a reliable and frequently employed signal that used
to track spatio-temporal dynamics of coccolithophore abundance in phytoplankton communities. Here,
the seasonal variability in satellite-detected PIC concentrations has been used as a proxy for
coccolithophore abundance to assess the significance of this group in nano-sized phytoplankton
community of the Dardanelles. The in-situ detected temporal variation in autotrophic nanoplankton
biomass over a 14-month period identified the times of the year (as months) when autotrophic
nanoplankton share in total phytoplankton chlorophyll a biomass exceeded 50 % in the Dardanelles. The
satellite detected peak PIC concentrations co-occurred with the formation of nanoplankton dominated
phytoplankton communities within the studied period, indicating that significance of coccolithophores
on the relative abundance of nanoplankton in the phytoplankton of the Dardanelles.