Evaluating phytoplankton dynamics in the Newport River estuary (North Carolina, USA) by HPLC-derived pigment profiles

Abstract

Pigment profiles determined using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) reflecting phytoplankton assemblages dominated by diatoms, dinoflagellates, prymnesiophytes, cryptophytes, and chlorophytes, were compared to phytoplankton cell counts. There were significant relationships between the taxon-specific pigment concentrations and the taxon-specific cell numbers. Fluorometric analysis underestimated biomass when prymnesiophytes, cryptophytes, and chlorophytes dominated the phytoplankton. HPLC-derived pigment profiles provided division-level phylogenetic assessment of large, short-term changes in the phytoplankton composition and detected assemblage responses to event-scale perturbation effects (eg precipitation, wind). -from Authors