Larger cell or colony size in winter, smaller in summer – a pattern shared by many species of Lake Kinneret phytoplankton

摘要: AbstractWe examined an 8.5-year record (2004–2012) of cell size data for phytoplankton species from Lake Kinneret, Israel, sampled weekly or at 2-week intervals and determined microscopically by the same person. Many abundant enough to be counted year-round showed a typical seasonal pattern that repeated annually: diameter was maximal in winter minimal summer. This shared different taxonomic groups including cyanobacteria, chlorophyta, dinoflagellates. Similarly, colonial diatoms, cyanobacteria number cells per colony larger smaller We postulated changes constituted adaptation enabled overcome temperature-dependent water density viscosity adjust their sinking velocities seasons. A series computations based on Stokes’ law supported our hypothesis. If this phenomenon larger...