Abstract: A total of eighteen common phytoplankton species in China coastal waters were divided into different assemblages to investigate the increasing pattern of the assemblage biomass with species richness. The sampling effect was studied by multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) method, and the complementary effect was explored by over-yielding analysis, relative yield total (RYT) index, and subset approach. It was shown that the increasing pattern of assemblage biomass with species richness was not unitary. When the species number was lower than 5, the assemblage biomass increased with increasing species richness; when the species number was higher than 5, there were no obvious relationships between assemblage biomass and species richness. A stronger complementary effect was observed inside the assemblage, presenting a hump-shaped variation with increasing species richness. The sampling effect of the assemblages occurred at stable growth phase.

Key words: phytoplankton, species richness, biomass, sampling effect, complementary effect