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Abstract Phytoplankton community size structure influences the production and fate of organic carbon in marine food webs and can undergo strong seasonal shifts in temperate regions. As part of the Northeast US Shelf (NES) Long‐Term Ecological Research program, we measured net primary production (NPP) rates and chlorophylla(Chla) concentrations in three phytoplankton size classes (< 5, 5–20, and > 20 μm) during winter and summer for 3 yr along a coastal‐to‐offshore transect. Mean depth‐integrated NPP was 37% higher in summer than winter, with limited cross‐shelf differences because of significant interannual variability. When averaged across the shelf, depth‐integrated NPP was dominated by the > 20 μm size class in winter and generated equally by the three size fractions in summer because of substantial contributions from cells > 20 μm at the Chlamaximum depth. Furthermore, the relationship between Chlaand NPP, in terms of relative contributions, varied by size class. Variations in this relationship have implications for models of primary productivity on the NES and beyond. In comparison to historical NPP data, we identified equivalent levels of winter NPP but observed a 25% decrease in summer NPP, suggesting a potential reduction in the seasonality of NPP on the NES. Together, our results highlight seasonal shifts in NPP rates of different phytoplankton size classes, with implications for food web structure and export production. These data emphasize the importance of quantifying size‐fractionated NPP over time to constrain its variability and better predict the fate of organic carbon in coastal systems under environmental change. 

These data include diatom composition information from a fixed sampling site in Narragansett, Bay, RI, USA over six years between dates 2008-12-09 and 2014-12-30. Sampling occurred monthly from 2008 to 2013 and twice per month in 2014. Diatom composition data, in the form of amplicon sequencing variants, were obtained via high throughput sequencing of filtered biomass samples. Diatoms are important contributors to marine primary production; however, their vast diversity makes species-level identification challenging. This dataset, collected over many years, includes diatom composition data at a more detailed level than ever before observed in Narragansett Bay and highlights the importance of time series for understanding phytoplankton dynamics in coastal systems. These data were collected by various students over the years with supervision from Dr. Tatiana Rynearson of URI's Graduate School of Oceanography. Diana Fontaine processed these data and together, Dr. Rynearson and her student Ms. Fontaine published their results in Limnology and Oceanography. 

This dataset consists of primary production measurements based on uptake of carbon-13 added as 13C-bicarbonate during 24-h deckboard incubations of seawater. Sampling occurred on cruises along the Northeast U.S. Shelf Long Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) Transect during summer, fall, and winter, starting in summer 2019. Net primary production (NPP) was determined from particulate organic carbon (POC) content and associated stable isotope enrichment. Three data tables are included: 1. Depth-specific primary productivity based on fractional light levels of the surface irradiance with reference to the profile of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR). 2. Integrated primary productivity. 3. Natural abundance POC. The tables derive from the raw data included as other entities. 

Size-fractionated chlorophyll a and phaeopigments are measured from discrete bottle samples collected during CTD-rosette casts on Northeast U.S. Shelf Long-Term Ecological Research (NES-LTER) Transect cruises (ongoing since 2017), as a proxy for phytoplankton biomass. Sampling frequency is approximately seasonal. Samples were processed by three lab groups using different methods. Size fractions in addition to whole seawater (>0.7 micron) include >5 , <10, >10, and >20 microns with some samples pre-filtered <200 microns. Pigments were analyzed using fluorometers in which fluorescence was measured versus a blank and a standard, and final concentrations were calculated in micrograms per liter (or mg per cubic meter). Some of the data are from cruises in collaboration with the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI). 

Abstract Diatoms are among the most abundant phytoplankton that inhabit coastal ecosystems, forming large blooms that fuel coastal food webs. Although diatoms are often large and morphologically distinct, many are small or morphologically cryptic making it difficult to understand the temporal dynamics of whole diatom communities and the environmental factors that drive them. Here, we investigated diatom diversity and its environmental correlates using 6 yr of monthly surface water samples from the Narragansett Bay Plankton Time Series to investigate the seasonal and annual variability of diatom species occurrence. High‐throughput amplicon sequencing of filtered biomass yielded 658 diatom amplicon sequence variants (ASVs), of which 347 were identified to species. Of the 49 diatom genera in the sequencing dataset, 33% had never been observed in the time series using microscopy (1959–2014). We observed a weak quadratic relationship between ASV richness and chlorophyll‐aconcentrations, suggesting that richness decreases during blooms. There was a significant difference in diatom ASV richness by season and we identified distinct assemblages associated with different seasons. These assemblages were remarkably synchronous, exhibiting a sinewave‐like pattern, over 6 yr with an annual periodicity that correlated significantly with seasonal changes in temperature, light, and dissolved inorganic nitrogen. The annual cycle of diatom assemblages suggests stability in a key component of the estuarine food web known to influence ecosystem resilience and function. Deviations from the annual cycle of recurrence could be used to distinguish between changes in community structure driven by annual fluctuations in the environment and those driven by climate‐change stressors. 

Diatoms generate nearly half of marine primary production and are comprised of a diverse array of species that are often morphologically cryptic or difficult to identify using light microscopy. Here, species composition and realized thermal niches of species in the diatom genus Thalassiosira were examined at the site of the Narragansett Bay (NBay) Long-Term Plankton Time Series using a combination of light microscopy (LM), high-throughput sequencing (HTS) of the 18S rDNA V4 region and historical records. Thalassiosira species were identified over 6 years using a combination of LM and DNA sequences. Sixteen Thalassiosira taxa were identified using HTS: nine were newly identified in NBay. Several newly identified species have small cell diameters and are difficult to identify using LM. However, they appeared frequently and thus may play a significant ecological role in NBay, particularly since their realized niches suggest they are eurythermal and able to tolerate the >25 °C temperature range of NBay. Four distinct species assemblages that grouped by season were best explained by surface water temperature. When compared to historical records, we found that the cold-water species Thalassiosira nordenskioeldii has decreased in persistence over time, suggesting that increasing surface water temperature has influenced the ecology of phytoplankton in NBay.