Exploring intrinsic distribution of phytoplankton relative abundance and biomass in combination with continental-scale field investigation and microcosm experiment.

• The relative abundance and biomass of phytoplankton is exponential distribution. • Three new indices including a, k and N were established. • The a was the critical relative abundance of extinction. • The k and N were competition coefficient and the environmental taxa capacity. • Relationship among a, k and N and traditional diversity indices was analysed. Phytoplankton are primary producers in aquatic ecosystems and their diversity directly affects the community stability and primary productivity. However, the commonly used diversity indices (such as Shannon and Pielou indices) were originally derived from other fields rather than ecology and did not have a direct biological explanatory function. There is still a need to incorporate biological explanatory functions into diversity evaluation methods and theories to bridge the gap between phytoplankton biodiversity and biological characteristics. This study aimed to explicate the intrinsic distribution patterns of phytoplankton relative abundance and biomass. Our study demonstrated an exponential distribution pattern of phytoplankton relative abundance and biomass ranking through field investigations of 367 phytoplankton samples in China and microcosm experiments, respectively. Microcosm experiments illustrated that the linear distribution of the specific growth rate ranking resulted in an exponential distribution of the relative phytoplankton biomass ranking due to exponential growth patterns. Through mathematical deduction, it was found that the three indices a, k and N in the exponential distribution could be considered as the critical relative abundance of extinction, competition coefficient and the environmental taxa capacity, respectively. We found that a was positively correlated with Shannon index and Pielou index, k was negatively correlated with Shannon index, Pielou index and Chao1 index. In addition, N and Chao1 index were almost exactly the same. Our study obtained these indices based on the distribution pattern of phytoplankton, enabling a comprehensive analysis of the phytoplankton community and providing novel insights for further evaluating the health of aquatic ecosystems. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]