Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42228096›Full record

ArticleMicrobial ecology2026

Physicochemical Parameters Govern Winter Pelagic Microbial Food Web Dynamics in China's Marginal Seas.

Chaofeng Wang, Wenbo Yang, Wenhua Bian, Guisheng Song, Yawen Wang, Zhimeng Xu, Xiaoyu Wang, Longwen Fu, Junjian Wang, Zhilun Zhang and 3 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Microbial ecology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Chaofeng WangState Key Laboratory of Mariculture Breeding, Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology of Fujian Province, Institute of Oceanology, College of Marine Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China. wangchaofeng@fafu.edu.cn.
Wenbo YangState Key Laboratory of Mariculture Breeding, Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology of Fujian Province, Institute of Oceanology, College of Marine Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
Wenhua BianCAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Haijun Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266000, China.
Guisheng SongTianjin Key Laboratory for Marine Environmental Research and Service, School of Marine Science and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin, 300072, China.
Yawen WangFrontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China.
Zhimeng XuHaide College, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China.
Xiaoyu WangFrontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Key Laboratory of Physical Oceanography, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China. xywang@ouc.edu.cn.
Longwen FuKey Laboratory of Coastal Environmental Processes and Ecological Remediation, Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai, 264003, China.
Junjian WangGuangxi Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Change and Disaster in Beibu Gulf, Beibu Gulf University, Qinzhou, 535011, China.
Zhilun ZhangSchool of Geospatial Engineering and Science, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), Sun Yat-sen University, Zhuhai, 519082, China.
Yan WangState Key Laboratory of Mariculture Breeding, Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology of Fujian Province, Institute of Oceanology, College of Marine Sciences, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou, 350002, China.
Zhen GuoCAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Haijun Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266000, China.
Li ZhaoCAS Key Laboratory of Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 88 Haijun Road, Qingdao, Shandong Province, 266000, China.

Funding

the open research cruise NORC2025-302 supported by NSFC Ship time Sharing Project 42449302
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Pelagic microbial food webs (MFWs) functionally govern marine biogeochemical fluxes, oceanic productivity and climate feedbacks via complex trophic-level interactions, yet their compositional dynamics, trophic-level interactions and tightly coupled physicochemical driving factors remain insufficient in China's marginal seas (CMS: South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, Bohai Sea). Here, we elucidate the MFW trophic structure (picoplankton [Pico], nanoplankton [Nano], microzooplankton [Micro]) and its physicochemical drivers across four CMS subzones during January 2025, utilizing flow cytometry, microscopy, and satellite remote sensing-derived hydrographic datasets. Results revealed a latitudinal northward shift in the MFW from Pico- to Micro-dominated assemblages. A size-structured framework was proposed, with consistent negative slopes for normalized abundance spectrum (-3.0 ± 0.2) and biomass spectrum (-1.8 ± 0.2)-validating metabolic ecological theory, with the biomass of 20-200 μm plankton accounting for 9.9% of that of 0.2-2.0 μm plankton. Specifically, trophic-level abundance ratios conformed to a ecological pyramid structure, with Pico: Micro and Nano: Micro ratios spanning 5 and 2 orders of magnitude, respectively. Concerning biotic-abiotic interplays, nutrient-driven bottom-up control emerged as the primary regulatory mechanism for both Pico and Nano spanning all seas except the Kuroshio-influenced zones. Multivariate analyses further identified synergistic environmental forcing-where nitrate-phosphate co-limitation interacts with strong current mixing-as the key modulator of MFW stability thresholds. Our findings provide a trait-based framework for predicting eutrophic marginal sea resilience and modeling carbon export under climate change.

Indexed as

Food ChainPlanktonSeawaterBiomassChinaOceans and SeasPhytoplanktonSeasonsZooplanktonChina's marginal seasNormalized biomass size spectrumPelagic microbial food websSynergistic environmental forcingTrophic-level interaction

Identifiers

PMID42228096
PMCPMC13447360

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LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.