Ege Denizi'nde fitoplankton dinamikleri: Su kolonunda kemotaksonomi ve sedimentte dinoflagellat kistleri dağilimi

The Aegean Sea has a unique structure within the Mediterranean ecosystem with the complex bottom and coastal structure, various river discharges and the presence of the low salinity Black Sea water entering the Dardanelles. The aim of the research is to monitor phytoplankton pigments in the water column and modern dinoflagellate cysts in the sediment with taking environmental factors into account in the north-south gradient of the Aegean Sea. Additionally, in the Rhodes Gyre which has a special place in the Eastern Mediterranean ecosystem with its permanent "upwelling" structure, phytoplankton pigments were investigated the trophic gradient from the vicinity through the core of the gyre. In the Aegean Sea, water column and sediment sampling was done at 10 different stations on March 2012, sediment sampling was done at 4 stations on June 2013 and in the Rhodes Gyre, water column sampling was done at 10 stations on March 2016. Collected samples were analysed by HPLC for pigment analysis. In the Aegean Sea Chl a ranged between BDL-2.00 µg/l. Picoplankton replaces with microplankton sized diatoms and dinoflagellates through the south. In the Rhodes Gyre, Chl a ranged between BDL-0.47 µg/l, maximum values have been reached in the core of the gyre and while nanoplankton has the largest proportion in the whole area microplankton prevailed over picoplankton through the core of the gyre. Modern dinoflagellate cyst abundances ranged from 70 to 2222 cysts per gram dried sediment (max: St2, min: St1). Except for the low values observed in the Station 1C, abundances were found higher in the Black Sea influenced northern waters than the oligotrophic Eastern Mediterranean waters and while the dominancy of the autotrophic cysts in the Aegean Sea has been observed, the heterotroph cyst proportion was slightly decreasing through the south.