Abundance and biomass of nano- and microplankton during the 1995 Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon in the Arabian Sea

Phototrophic and heterotrophic nanoplankton (PNAN, HNAN; 2–20 μm protists) and microplankton (PMIC, HMIC; 20–200 μm protists and micrometazoa) are major components of the producer and consumer assemblages in oceanic plankton communities. Abundances and biomasses of these microorganisms were determined from samples collected along two transects during the Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon process cruises of the US JGOFS Arabian Sea Program in 1995. Vertical profiles of these assemblages were strongly affected by the presence of a subsurface oxygen minimum layer. Abundances of all four assemblages decreased dramatically below the top of this layer. Depth-integrated (0–160 m) abundances and biomasses of nanoplankton and microplankton were of similar magnitude for most samples. Exceptions to this rule were primarily due to PMIC (mostly diatom) species which dominated phytoplankton assemblages at a few stations during each season. Depth-integrated biomasses for the combined nano- and microplankton averaged over all stations for each cruise were surprisingly similar for the Northeast Monsoon and Spring Intermonsoon seasons in this ecosystem (2.0 and 1.8 g C m−2 [170 and 150 m moles C m−2] for the two seasons, respectively). Nano- and microplankton biomass for these two time periods constituted a signficant portion of the total amount of the particulate organic carbon (POC) in the water column. Summed over all stations, these assemblages constituted approximately 25–35% of the POC in the top 160 m of the northern Arabian Sea.