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Comparison of Phytoplankton Communities Between Melt Ponds and Open Water in the Central Arctic Ocean

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Abstract

Climate warming has a significant impact on the sea ice and ecosystem of the Arctic Ocean. Under the increasing numbers of melt ponds in Arctic sea ice, the phytoplankton communities associated with the ice system are changing. During the 7th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition cruise in summer 2016, photosynthesis pigments and nutrients were analyzed, revealing differences in phytoplankton communities between melt ponds and open water in the central Arctic. Photo synthetic pigment analysis suggested that Fuco (5-91 μg m-3 and Diadino (4-21 μg m-3) were the main pigments in the open water. However, the melt ponds had high concentrations of Viola (7-30 μg m-3), Lut (4-59 μg m-3) and Chl b (11-38 μg m-3), suggesting that green algae dominated phytoplankton communities in the melt ponds. The significant differences in phytoplankton communities between melt ponds and open water might be due to the salinity difference. Moreover, green algae may play a more important role in Arctic sea ice ecosystems with the expected growing number of melt ponds in the central Arctic Ocean.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the crew of the ‘RV Xuelong’ for collecting the samples during the 2016 Chinese Arctic Research Expedition (CHINARE 2016) cruise. The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41506222, 41776205), and the Chinese Polar Environment Comprehensive Investigation & Assessment Programmes (Nos. CHINARE 2017-03-04 and 2017-04-02).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemistry, State Oceanic Administration, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Tianzhen Zhang, Yanpei Zhuang, Haiyan Jin, Ke Li, Zhongqian Ji, Yangjie Li & Youcheng Bai

  2. State Key Laboratory of Satellite Ocean Environment Dynamics, Second Institute of Oceanography, Ministry of Natural Resources, Hangzhou, 310012, China

    Haiyan Jin

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  1. Tianzhen Zhang
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  2. Yanpei Zhuang
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Correspondence to Yanpei Zhuang.

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Zhang, T., Zhuang, Y., Jin, H. et al. Comparison of Phytoplankton Communities Between Melt Ponds and Open Water in the Central Arctic Ocean. J. Ocean Univ. China 18, 573–579 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-019-3871-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11802-019-3871-0

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