Spatial distributions of dimethyl sulfur compounds, DMSP-lyase activity, and phytoplankton community in the East China Sea during fall

The spatial distributions of dimethylsulfide (DMS), dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), DMSP-lyase activity (DLA) and their controlling factors including nutrients, phytoplankton community and bacterial abundance were investigated in the East China Sea (ECS) during fall from October 19 to November 2, 2015. Diatoms and dinoflagellates dominated the phytoplankton community, while other taxonomic groups were rare and mainly found in the oligotrophic open sea. Affected by the high nutrients concentrations, Chl a , DMS, DMSP and DLA showed high values in eutrophic inshore waters, and decreased from the costal zones to the open sea. Statistical analysis suggested that diatoms and dinoflagellates were the main controlling factors of DMS, DMSP, and DLA in ECS. For size-fractionated samples, a reduced contribution of the microplankton from inshore stations to offshore stations affected by the trophic conditions was noted. Meanwhile, this decrease in microplankton led to an increase in the ratio of DLA contributed by picoplankton and free-living bacteria from the estuary area to the offshore region. The DMS sea-to-air flux was calculated using the equation of Nightingale et al. (Glob Biogeochem Cy 14(1):373–387, 2000), and approximately 2.88 × 10 −2 Tg of sulfur was transferred from the sea into the atmosphere in the form of DMS in ECS during fall.