Productivity dominated by picoplankton in a macro-tidal tropical estuary, Darwin Harbour

Productivity around the tropical coast of North Australia has been considered to be dominated by phytoplankton. The phytoplankton encompasses a large taxon which, dependent on the source definition, can vary significantly. Traditionally, they would only include pelagic photosynthetic organisms (autotrophic), yet more recently the definition is being revised to include heterotrophic organisms. Recent advancements in oceanography over the past three decades have found the prevalence in the global ocean of cyanobacteria of sizes ranging from 0.5-1.5 µm. Two cyanobacterial genera Synechoccocus and Prochlorococcus are now recognised to dominate phytoplankton cell counts and biomass specifically in the oligotrophic tropical and subtropical oceans. This study is the first to identify the importance of picoplankton as a foremost contributor to productivity in a macro-tidal ecosystem in Northern Tropical Australia. Picoplankton was found to be the dominant group of primary producers (> 99% or 6 × 10 9 cells/L) within the phytoplankton in Darwin Harbour during the dry season of 2013. The larger phytoplankton > 2 µm contributed (< 0.05% or 2 × 10 2 cells/L) of the population. This study further defines the influences on this dynamic system that would allow the picoplankton community to thrive, highlighting the complexity of this nitrogen-limited system, where nutrient cycling, including nitrogen fixation mediated possibly through the microbial community, plays a pertinent role. Other environmental influences include spring tides, spatial variation and increased turbidity which benefits heterotrophy over autotrophy in this ecosystem.