Phytoplankton composition and functional groups in a tropical humic coastal lagoon, Brazil

Abstract

This paper presents the composition and functional groups of the phytoplankton from Comprida lagoon, a tropical humic coastal Lagoon located in Southeast Brazil. A total of 28 taxa was found, distributed in eight taxonomic divisions as follows: 26% Heterokontophyta, 21% Chlorophyta, 21% Cyanophyta, 14% Bacillariophyta, 14% Cryptophyta, and 4% Prymnesiophyta. Twenty-three taxa were identified at the specific and infraspecific levels, from which four are new records for Brazil and two for Rio de Janeiro State. Phytoplankton of the Comprida lagoon was comprised of several flagellates, but also eukaryote and prokaryote picoplankton, filamentous cyanobacteria and several diatoms. The biomass was lower than that found in other lacustrine systems, and showed remarkable temporal variability. According to the functional-group approach, the populations formed eight groups: Q, Z, E, N, X3, X2, S1 and Y, most typical of oligo- or mesotrophic systems, tolerant to nutrient deficiency and sensitive to increased pH.