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Macromolecular production of phytoplankton in the northern Bering Sea, 2007

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Abstract

Photosynthetic carbon allocations into different macromolecular classes provide important clues regarding physiological conditions of phytoplankton and the nutritional status of potential grazers. The productivity experiments for photosynthetic carbon allocations were conducted at three light depths (100, 30, and 1 %) for nine different stations in the northern Bering Sea as an important gateway into the western Arctic Ocean, using the 13C isotope tracer technique to determine the major controlling factors and physiological conditions of phytoplankton. The photosynthetic carbon allocations into different macromolecular classes [Low molecular weight metabolites (LMWM), lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides] of primary producers were determined based on the productivity experiments. LMWM and polysaccharides had similar vertical patterns whereas lipids and proteins had reverse vertical patterns at all the stations, which is consistent with other results under different light depths. The overall average allocations were 37.9 (SD = ± 18.8 %), 26.6 (SD = ± 17.4 %), 26.5 (SD = ± 20.7 %), and 9.1 % (SD = ± 7.8 %), for LMWM, lipids, proteins, and polysaccharides, respectively. Based on a general pattern of macromolecular production in the northern Bering Sea, phytoplankton was in a physiologically transitional phase from an unlimited status to a nitrogen-deficient condition during our cruise period, 2007. However, more in situ field measurements for macromolecular production under a variety of environmental conditions will improve the understanding of the physiological responses of phytoplankton to the ongoing environmental changes in the Arctic Ocean.

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Acknowledgments

We thank J. Grebmeier and L. Cooper who helped with onboard sample collection. We also would like to thank the crewmembers of the USCGC Healy, X. Cui, J. Zhao, and others who assisted with sample collections at sea. We very much appreciate the constructive comments by three anonymous reviewers, which greatly improved the earlier version of the manuscript. This research was a part of the project title “K-PORT (KOPRI, PM12020)” funded by the Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oceanography, Pusan National University, Geumjeong-Gu, Busan, 607-735, Korea

    HuiTae Joo, JangHan Lee, Soonmo An & Sang H. Lee

  2. Ocean Science and Technology Institute, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Korea

    Chang-Keun Kang

  3. Korea Polar Research Institute, KORDI, Incheon, 406-840, Republic of Korea

    Sung-Ho Kang & Hyoung Min Joo

  4. Marine Environment Research Division, National Fisheries Research Development Institute, Busan, 619-705, Korea

    Jae-Hyun Lim

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  1. HuiTae Joo
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Correspondence to Sang H. Lee.

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Joo, H., Lee, J., Kang, CK. et al. Macromolecular production of phytoplankton in the northern Bering Sea, 2007. Polar Biol 37, 391–401 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-013-1439-9

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