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Alkaline phosphatase activity at the southwest coast of India: A comparison of locations differently affected by upwelling..

DRS at CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography

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Title Alkaline phosphatase activity at the southwest coast of India: A comparison of locations differently affected by upwelling..
 
Creator Mamatha, S.S.
Malik, A.
Varik, S.
Parvathi, V.
Jineesh, V.K.
Gauns, M.
LokaBharathi, P.A.
 
Subject coastal waters
phosphorus
Ecosystems
upwelling
primary production
 
Description The realization of the potential importance of phosphorus (P) as a limiting nutrient in marine ecosystem is increasing globally. Hence, the contribution of biotic variables in mobilizing this nutrient would be relevant especially in productive coastal waters. As alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) indicates the status of P for primary production in aquatic environments, we asked the following question: is the level of APA indicative of P sufficiency or deficiency in coastal waters, especially, where upwelling is a regular phenomenon? Therefore, we have examined the total APA, chlorophyll a along with phosphatase producing bacteria (PPB) and related environmental parameters from nearshore to offshore in coastal waters off Trivandrum and Kochi regions differently affected by upwelling during the onset of monsoon. Off Trivandrum, APA in the offshore waters of 5-m layer at 2.23 μM P h− 1 was > 4 times higher than nearshore. Thus, low APA could be indicative of P sufficiency in coastal waters and higher activity suggestive of deficiency in offshore waters off Trivandrum. In contrast, there was less difference in APA between near and offshore surface waters off Kochi. Our results show that the regions differently affected by upwelling respond differently according to ambient P concentration, distance from shore or depth of water. These observations could apparently be applicable to other coastal systems as well, where gradients in upwelling and phosphate runoff have been noticed. Further studies on other transects would throw more light on the extent and direction of the relationship between APA and ambient P concentration. Such studies would help in understanding the level of control of this nutrient on the productivity of coastal waters.
 
Date 2015-02-17T05:01:59Z
2015-02-17T05:01:59Z
2015
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Journal of Sea Research, vol.95; 196–205
http://drs.nio.org/drs/handle/2264/4691
 
Language en
 
Rights An edited version of this paper was published by Elsevier. Copyright [2014] Elsevier
 
Publisher Elsevier