Experimental study on the phosphate limitation in situ in the Changjiang Estuary

Marine phytoplankton, as a marine primary producer, is often limited by different nutrients. It greatly influences on the stability of the marine ecosystem and limits the growth of the phytoplankton.The samplings at surface water at the E4 station in the Changjiang Estuary area the in situ and incubations enriched with different concentration of phosphate, and monitoring of the depletion of the nutrients were carried out.The different growth of the picphytoplankton in the samples was analysed. The results shown that phosphate would limit the growth of the phytoplankton and not the picphytoplankton.