TITLE:
Spatial Distribution of Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients and Phytoplankton around Kota Kinabalu Wetland, Sabah, Malaysia
AUTHORS:
Sujjat Al Azad, Viearl Jivel Jinau
KEYWORDS:
Dissolved Inorganic Nutrients, Special Distribution Phytoplankton Species, Diversity and Richness
JOURNAL NAME:
Advances in Biological Chemistry,
Vol.10 No.4,
August
31,
2020
ABSTRACT: Kota Kinabalu Wetland is importantly habited of mangrove, diverse aquatic flora and
fauna as well as feeding stop for migratory birds. This wetland is inundated
with the tidal flow, as connected with a small river and nearby coastal areas, thus.
A study was carried out to determine the spatial distribution of dissolved
inorganic nutrients and phytoplankton diversity at Kota Kinabalu (KK) Wetlands.
Five stations, in which river mouth of Likas Bay, river channel (two stations) and
inundated area (two stations) in KK Wetland were selected for this study. In-situ parameters of water, water for
nutrients and phytoplankton samples were collected from May 2019 until October
2019. The highest concentration of nitrate (0.115 mg/L) was recorded at
inundated area of wetland (S5) while the lowest nitrate concentration (0.0047
mg/L) was found at river (S3) flowing towards wetland. The concentrations of
ammonia (0.2004 to 2.311 mg/L) were recorded relatively higher at every station
compared to other dissolved inorganic nutrients (DIN). The concentration of
phosphate was determined in the ranges of 0.0089 - 0.0513 mg/L. Nitrate, ammonia and phosphate showed
no significant difference (P = 0.737)
in terms of DIN concentration at all five sampling stations during the study period.
Twenty-four genera of phytoplankton were identified, dominated by diatoms
(55.29%), followed by dinoflagellates (24.95%), Chrysophyta (11.15%),
Spirotrichea (5.28%) and Cyanophyta (3.33%). Dominating species throughout the
study period include Chaetoceros sp., Pseduo-nitzschia sp., and Cylindrotheca closterium, Peridinium
quinquecorne and Alexandrium sp. Phytoplankton species compositions were observed the highest in river mouth area in July
with the highest density of 12.115 × 104 cells/mL. The study showed that nutrient concentration was insignificant (P = 0.614) in altering the phytoplankton
density, as influences with the tidal water.