The effect of salinity and water density on phytoplankton size

Egor ZADEREEV; Daria YASKELYAYNEN; Tatiana LOPATINA; Gülce YALÇIN; Cihelio Alves AMORIM; Erik JEPPESEN; Meryem BEKLİOĞLU

doi:10.1007/s00343-026-5133-5

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The effect of salinity and water density on phytoplankton size

Updated：2026-09-24

- The effect of salinity and water density on phytoplankton size
- Journal of Oceanology and Limnology Pages: 1-13(2026)
- Affiliations：
  
  1.Institute of Biophysics, Krasnoyarsk Research Center, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk 660036, Russia
  2.Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk 660041, Russia
  3.Department of Plankton and Microbial Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Stechlin 16775, Germany
  4.Ecosystem Research and Implementation Center, Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
  5.Limnology Laboratory, Biological Sciences Department, 9 Middle East Technical University, Ankara 06800, Türkiye
  6.WasserCluster Lunz-Biologische Station GmbH, Lunz am See 3293, Austria
  7.University for Continuing Education-Danube University Krems, Krems 3500, Austria
  8.Department of Ecoscience, Aarhus University, Aarhus C 8000, Denmark
  9.Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research, Beijing 100049, China
  10.Institute for Ecological Research and Pollution Control of Plateau Lakes, School of Ecology and Environmental Science, Yunnan University, Kunming 650500, China
- Author bio：
  
  egor@ibp.ru
- Funds：
- DOI：10.1007/s00343-026-5133-5
  CLC：
- Received：24 April 2025，
  
  Online First：24 September 2026，
- Accepted：
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ZADEREEV Egor,YASKELYAYNEN Daria,LOPATINA Tatiana,et al.The effect of salinity and water density on phytoplankton size[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology,
DOI：

ZADEREEV Egor,YASKELYAYNEN Daria,LOPATINA Tatiana,et al.The effect of salinity and water density on phytoplankton size[J].Journal of Oceanology and Limnology, DOI：.

摘要

Abstract

Phytoplankton size and morphology are key traits influencing their ecological roles

buoyancy

and susceptibility to grazing. We investigated how water density

driven by salinity and temperature

affects phytoplankton size structure in two systems: (1) a observational study in a saline (~14) meromictic Lake Shira (Russia)

characterized by seasonal water column stratification; and (2) the gradient experiment at the METU Mesocosm System II (Türkiye) with a large salinity gradient (0.5–50). In Lake Shira

while the overall phytoplankton community showed no consistent size variations across seasons or depth zones

colonies of the cyanobacterium

Microcystis

and filaments of cyanobacterium

Planktolyngbya

contorta

exhibited larger area based diameters in denser

more saline deep waters compared to the less dense epilimnion in summer and fall and a positive response of the area-based diameter to the increase in water viscosity. In the system of 5 000-L mesocosms

phytoplankton average diameter increased with salinity

likely compensating for reduced sinking velocity in denser water. These findings suggest that water density influences phytoplankton size

particularly in species with colonial forms; however

ecological implications for food web dynamics remain uncertain. Our study highlights the complex interplay of physical and biological factors shaping phytoplankton size structure in saline ecosystems.

关键词

Keywords

references

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Related Institution

Krasnoyarsk Research Center, Institute of Biophysics, Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, Akademgorodok, Krasnoyarsk

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Siberian Federal University, 660079, Svobodnii av. 79, Krasnoyarsk

State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology Institute of Hydrobiology Chinese Academy of Sciences

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