Study of monthly variations in primary production and their relationships with environmental factors in the Daya Bay based on a general additive model

In this study, the horizontal and vertical distribution of primary production (PP) and its monthly variations were described based on field data collected from the Daya Bay in January–December of 2016. The relationships between PP and environmental factors were analyzed using a general additive model (GAM). Significant seasonal differences were observed in the horizontal distribution of PP, while vertical distribution showed a relatively consistent unimodal pattern. The monthly average PP (calculated by carbon) ranged from 48.03 to 390.56 mg/(m2·h), with an annual average of 182.77 mg/(m2·h). The highest PP was observed in May and the lowest in November. Additionally, the overall trend in PP was spring>summer>winter>autumn, and spring PP was approximately three times that of autumn PP. GAM analysis revealed that temperature, bottom salinity, phytoplankton, and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) had no significant relationships with PP, while longitude, depth, surface salinity, chlorophyll a (Chl a) and transparency were significantly correlated with PP. Overall, the results presented herein indicate that monsoonal changes and terrestrial and offshore water systems have crucial effects on environmental factors that are associated with PP changes.