The influence of nanoflagellates on the spatial variety of picoplankton and the carbon flow of the microbial food web in the oligotrophic subtropical pelagic continental shelf ecosystem

• The active growth of bacteria might be induced by upwelling water.
• We found that an oligotrophic pelagic ecosystem was a bottom-up control ecosystem.
• The interaction between growth and grazing of nanoflagellates will limit picoplankton within a narrow range.

To investigate the mechanism of the spatial dynamics of picoplankton community (bacteria and Synechococcus spp.) and to estimate the carbon flux of the microbial food web in the oligotrophic Taiwan Warm Current Water of the subtropical marine pelagic ecosystem, we conducted size-fractionation experiments during five cruises by the R/V Ocean Research II during the summers of 2010 and 2011 in the southern East China Sea. We carried out culture experiments using surface water, which according to a temperature–salinity (T–S) diagram, is characterized as oligotrophic Taiwan Current Warm Water. We found a negative correlation between bacteria growth rate and temperature, and another negative correlation between nitrate and temperature indicating that the active growth of heterotrophic bacteria might be induced by nutrients lifted from a deep layer by cold upwelling water. This finding suggests that the area we studied was a bottom-up control pelagic ecosystem. Upwelling brings nutrient-rich water to the euphotic zone and promotes bacterial growth, resulting in increased picoplankton biomass, which increases the consumption rate of nanoflagellates. The net growth rate (growth rate–grazing rate) becomes negative when the densities of bacteria and Synechococcus spp. are lower than the threshold values. The interaction between growth and grazing will limit the abundance of bacteria (105–106 cells ml−1) and Synechococcus spp. (104–105 cells ml−1) within a narrow range. Meanwhile, 61% of bacteria production and 54% of Synechococcus spp. production are transported to a higher trophic level (nanoflagellate), though the cascade effect might cause an underestimation of both percentages of transported carbon. Based on the successive size-fractionation experiments, we estimated that the predation values were underestimated and that the diet of nanoflagellates is composed of 64% bacteria and 36% Synechococcus spp.