Abstract
The biomass and productivity of sea ice algae was assessed in the northwestern Barents Sea in May 2004. Sea ice algal pigment content was patchy with a mean of 18.5 ± 8.9 mg Chla m−2. The algal community was dominated by the diatom Nitzschia frigida. Primary production measured by 14C incubations was between 0.37 and 2.8 mg C m−2 h−1, which compared well with oxygen-based methods using the diffusive boundary layer approach (0.071–1.1 mg C m−2 h−1). Given the differences in the irradiances under which these two sets of measurements were made, there was a strong level of consistency between the two sets of results. Measurements of primary production were consistent with previous Arctic measurements but high spatial heterogeneity made a regional estimate of production inappropriate.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Anderson OGN (1977) Primary production associated with sea ice at Godhavn, Disco, West Greenland. Ophelia 16:205–220
Booth JA (1984) The epontic algal community of the ice edge zone and its significance to the Davis Strait ecosystem. Arctic 37:234–243
Broecker WS, Peng TH (1974) Gas exchange rates between air and sea. Tellus 26:21–35
Carmack EC, MacDonald RW, Jasper S (2004) Phytoplankton productivity on the Canadian Shelf of the Beaufort Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 277:37–50
Clasby RC, Horner R, Alexander V (1973) An in situ method for measuring primary productivity of Arctic sea ice algae. J Fish Res Board Can 30:835–838
Geider RJ (1997) Photosynthesis or planktonic respiration. Nature 388:132
Glud NR, Rysgaard S, Kuhl M (2002) A laboratory study on O2 dynamics and photosynthesis in ice algal communities: quantification by microsensors, O2 exchange rates, 14C incubations and a PAM fluorometer. Aquat Microb Ecol 27:301–311
Gosselin M, Levasseur M, Wheeler PA, Horner RA, Booth BC (1997) New measurements of phytoplankton and ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean. Deep sea Res 44:1623–1644
Hegseth EN (1992) Sub-ice algal assemblages of the Barents Sea: species composition, chemical composition and growth rates. Polar Biol 12:485–496
Hegseth EN (1998) Primary production of the northern Barents Sea. Polar Res 17:113–123
Horner R, Schrader GC (1982) Relative contribution of ice algae, phytoplankton, and benthic microalgae to primary production in nearshore regions of the Beaufort Sea. Arctic 35:485–503
Hsiao SI (1988) Spatial and seasonal variations in primary production of sea ice microalgae and phytoplankton in Frobisher Bay, Arctic Canada. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 44:275–285
Irwin BD (1990) Primary production of ice algae on a seasonally-ice-covered, continental shelf. Polar Biol 10:247–254
Johnsen G, Hegseth EN (1991) Photoadaptation of sea-ice microalgae in the Barents Sea. Polar Biol 11:179–184
Kühl M, Lassen C, Jørgensen BB (1994) Light penetration and light intensity in sandy marine sediments measured with irradiance and scalar irradiance fibre-optic microprobes. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 105:139–148
Legendre L, Ackley SF, Dieckmann GS, Gulliksen B, Horner R, Hoshiai T, Melnikov IA, Reeburgh WS, Spindler, Sullivan CW (1992) Ecology of sea ice biota, 2 global significance. Polar Biol 12:429–444
Lønne OJ (1988) A diver-operated electric suction sampler for sympagic (= under-ice) invertebrates. Polar Res 6:135–136
McMinn A, Hegseth EN (2003) Early spring pack ice algae in the Arctic and Antarctic. Scar biology. In: Huiskes AHL, Gieskes WWL, Rozema J, Schorno RML, van der Vies SM, Wolff WJ (eds) Proceedings of the 8th International Biology Symposium on Antarctic biology in a global context, 27 August–1 September 2001. Vrije Univeristeit, Amsterdam, pp 182–186
McMinn A, Hegseth EN (2004) Quantum yield and photosynthetic parameters of marine microalgae from the southern Arctic Ocean, Svalbard. J Mar Biol Assoc UK 85:865–871
McMinn A, Ashworth A, Ryan K (2000) In situ net primary productivity of an Antarctic fast ice bottom algal community. Aquat Microb Ecol 21:177–185
Revsbech NP, Jørgensen BB (1986) Microelectrodes: their use in microbial ecology. In: Marshall KC (ed) Advances in Microbial Ecology. Plenum, New York, pp 293–352
Satoh H, Watanabe K (1988) Primary productivity in the fast ice area near Syowa Station, Antarctica, during spring and summer 1983/84. J Oceanogr Soc Jpn 44(6):287–292
Smith REH, Anning J, Clement P, Cota G (1988) Abundance and production of ice algae in Resolute Passage, Canadian Arctic. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 48:251–263
Trenerry LJ, McMinn A, Ryan KG (2002) In situ oxygen microelectrode measurements of bottom ice algal production in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Polar Biol 25:72–80
Vinje T (1985) Drift, composition, morphology and distribution of the sea ice fields in the Barents Sea. Norsk Polarinst Skr 179C:1–26
Vinje T, Kvambekk ÅS (1991) Barents Sea drift ice characteristics. Polar Res 10:59–68
Acknowledgments
We would like to acknowledge the support of the crew of the RV. Jan Mayen and other participants in the Thin Ice Project. Bjornar Seim and Haakon Hop are thanked for their help with diving. Andrew McMinn would like to acknowledge financial support from the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Research Council. This work is a contribution to the Thin Ice Project.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McMinn, A., Hegseth, E.N. Sea ice primary productivity in the northern Barents Sea, spring 2004. Polar Biol 30, 289–294 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0182-x
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-006-0182-x