Abstract
Spatial changes of small nanoplankton (2–10 μm) were investigated in relation to sea-ice conditions, hydrography and receding ice processes in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) during spring 1994. Abundance and biomass of heterotrophic and autotrophic nanoplankton, as well as bacterioplankton, were determined along a south-north transect from the open waters polynya towards the pack ice. Autotrophic and heterotrophic nanoplankton biomass ranged from 758 to 4570 mgC m−2 and from 3 to 387 mgC m−2, respectively. Heterotrophic nanoplankton accounted, on average, for about 9% of the total (i.e. autotrophic plus heterotrophic) nanoplankton biomass. The size structure of both auto- and heterotrophic nanoplankton in the Ross Sea continental shelf receding ice edge was different from that of nanoplankton associated with the shelf break and open Antarctic ice-edge area. Generally, the highest heterotrophic biomass was found in the pack-ice zone on the continental shelf, while the highest heterotrophic contribution to the total nanoplankton biomass (up to 25%) was encountered at the shelf break where phytoplankton was largely dominated by 2- to 3-μm-size cells.
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Accepted: 2 May 1999
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Vanucci, S., Bruni, V. Small nanoplankton and bacteria in the Western Ross Sea during sea-ice retreat (spring 1994). Polar Biol 22, 311–321 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050424
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003000050424