Abstract
The benthos of shallow water coastal zones in the Arctic region consists of a consortium of eukaryotic and prokaryotic microorganisms of high biodiversity. The dominant organisms are benthic diatoms, which form an assemblage referred to as microphytobenthos. This phototrophic community is generally known from temperate marine regions as being highly productive and providing a major food source for benthic suspension or deposit feeders (Cahoon, 1999), as filter for oxygen and other elemental fluxes at the sediment/water interface (Risgaard-Petersen et al., 1994) and as stabiliser of sediment surfaces by the excretion of extracellular polymeric substances (DeBrouwer et al., 2005). Consequently, microphytobenthos represents a key component in the functioning of trophic webs in many coastal regions. Some marine ecosystems, such as the German Wadden Sea, are mainly controlled by the production biology of benthic diatoms. However, structure and function of microphytobenthic communities are badly studied in the Arctic regions (Glud et al., 2009).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Antia, N.J. (1976) Effects of temperature on the darkness survival of marine microplanktonic algae. Microb. Ecol. 3: 41–54.
Arrigo, K.R., van Dijken, G. and Pabi, S. (2008) Impact of a shrinking Arctic ice cover on marine primary production. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35: L19603. doi:10.1029/2008GL035028.
Blanchard, G.F., Guarini, J.M., Richard, P., Gros, P. and Mornet, F. (1996) Quantifying the short-term temperature effect on light-saturated photosynthesis of intertidal microphytobenthos. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 134: 309–313.
Cahoon, L.B. (1999) The role of benthic microalgae in neritic ecosystems. Oceanogr. Mar. Biol. Annu. Rev. 37: 47–86.
Chapman, A.R.O. and Lindley, J.E. (1980). Seasonal growth of Laminaria longicruris in the High Arctic in relation to irradiance and dissolved nutrient concentration. Mar. Biol. 57: 1–5.
DeBrouwer, J.F.C., Wolfstein, K., Ruddy, G.K., Jones, T.E.R. and Stal, L.J. (2005). Biogenic stabilization of intertidal sediments: the importance of extracellular polymeric substances produced by benthic diatoms. Microb. Ecol. 49: 501–512.
Devos, N., Ingouff, M., Loppes, R. and Matagne, R.F. (1998) RUBISCO adaptation to low temperatures: a comparative study in psychrophilic and mesophilic unicellular algae. J. Phycol. 34: 655–660.
Dunton, K.H. (1990) Growth and production in Laminaria solidungula: relation to continuous underwater light levels in the Alaskan high Arctic. Mar. Biol. 106: 297–304.
Glud, R.N., KĂ¼hl, M., Wenzhöfer, F. and Rysgaard, S. (2002) Benthic diatoms of a high Arctic fjord (Young Sound, NE Greenland): importance for ecosystem primary production. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 238: 15–29.
Glud, R.N., Woelfel, J., Karsten, U., KĂ¼hl, M. and Rysgaard, S. (2009) Benthic microalgal production in the Arctic: applied methods and status of the current database. Bot. Mar. 52: 559–571
Gustavs, L., Schumann, R., Eggert, A. And Karsten, U. (2009) In vivo growth fluorometry: accuracy and limits of microalgal growth rate measurements in ecophysiological investigations. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 55: 95–104.
Gutt, J. (2001) On the direct impact of ice on marine benthic communities, a review. Polar Biol. 24: 553–564.
Hanelt, D., TĂ¼g, H., Bischof, K., Gross, C., Lippert, H., Sawall, T. and Wiencke, C. (2001) Light regime in an Arctic fjord: a study related to stratospheric ozone depletion as a basis for determination of UV effects on algal growth. Mar. Biol. 138: 649–658.
Hop, H., Pearson, T., Hegseth, E.N., Kovacs, K.M., Wiencke, C., Kwasniewski, S., Eiane, K., Mehlum, F., Gulliksen, B., Wlodarska-Kowalezuk, M., Lydersen, C., Weslawski, J.M., Cochrane, S., Gabrielsen, G.W., Leakey, R.J.G., Lonne, O.J., Zajaczkowski, M., Falk-Petersen, S., Kendall, M., Wangberg, S.A., Bischof, K., Voronkov, A.Y., Kovaltchouk, N.A., Wiktor, J., Poltermann, M., di Prisco, G., Papucci, C., Gerland, S. (2002) The marine ecosystem of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Polar Res. 21: 167–208.
Janech, M.G., Krell, A., Mock, T., Kang, J.S. and Raymond, J.A. (2006). Ice-binding proteins from sea ice diatoms (Bacillariophyceae). J. Phycol. 42: 410–416.
Jerlov, N.G. (1976) Marine Optics. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Karsten, U., Schumann, R., Rothe, S., Jung, I. and Medlin, L. (2006) Temperature and light requirements for growth of two diatom species (Bacillariophyceae) isolated from an Arctic macroalgae. Polar Biol. 29: 476–486.
Kasamatsu, N., Hirano, T., Kudoh, S., Odate, T. and Fukuchi, M. (2004) Dimethylsulfoniopropionate production by psychrophilic diatom species. J. Phycol. 40: 874–878.
Kirst, G.O. (1990) Salinity tolerance of eukaryotic marine algae. Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 41: 21–53.
Kirst, G.O. and Wiencke, C. (1995) Ecophysiology of polar algae. J. Phycol. 31: 181–199.
KĂ¼hl, M., Glud, R.N., Borum, R., Roberts, R. and Rysgaard, S. (2001) Photosynthetic performance of surface-associated algae below sea ice as measured with a pulse-amplitude-modulated (PAM) fluorometer and O2 microsensors. Mar. Ecol. Progr. Ser. 223: 1–14.
Lesser, M.P, Kruse V.A. (2004) Seasonal temperature compensation in the horse mussel, Modiolus modiolus: metabolic enzymes, oxidative stress and heat shock proteins. Comp. Biochem. Physiol., A: Mol. Integr. Physiol. 137: 495–504.
Longhi, M.L., Schloss, I.R. and Wiencke, C. (2003) Effect of irradiance and temperature on photosynthesis and growth of two Antarctic benthic diatoms, Gyrosigma subsalinum and Odontella litigiosa. Bot. Mar. 46: 276–284.
LĂ¼ning, K. (1990) Seaweeds. Their Environment, Biogeography and Ecophysiology. Wiley, New York, Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto, Singapore, 527 pp.
Menard, H. and Smith, S.M. (1966) Hypsometry of ocean basin provinces. J. Geophys. Res. 71: 4305–4325.
Mock, T. and Valentin, K. (2004) Photosynthesis and cold acclimation – molecular evidence from a polar diatom. J. Phycol. 40: 732–741.
Morgan-Kiss, R.M., Priscu, J.C., Pocock, T., Gudynaite-Savitch, L. and Huner, N.P.A. (2006) Adaptation and acclimation of photosynthetic microorganisms to permanently cold environments. Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. 70: 222–252.
Orheim, O., Allegrini, I., Boissonnas, J., Drewry, D., Gascard, J.C., Hedberg, D., MĂ¼ller-Wille, L., Prestrud, P., Sors, A. and Tilzer, M. (1995) European Research in the Arctic – Looking Ahead. Norsk Polarinstitutt, Oslo.
Pabi, S., van Dijken, G.L. and Arrigo, K.R. (2008) Primary production in the Arctic Ocean, 1998–2006. J. Geophys. Res. - Oceans 113: C08005. doi:10.29/2007JC004578
Peters, E. and Thomas, D.N. (1996) Prolonged darkness and diatom mortality. I: Marine Antarctic species. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 207: 25–41.
Piepenburg, D., Blackburn, T. H., von Dorrien, C. F., Gutt, J., Hall, P. O. J., Hulth, S., Kendall, M. A., Opalinski, K. W., Rachor, E. and Schmid, M. K. (1995) Partitioning of benthic community respiration in the Arctic (northwestern Barents Sea). Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 118: 199–213.
Raymond, J.A. and Fritsen, C.H. (2001) Semipurification and ice recrystallization inhibition activity of ice-active substances associated with Antarctic photosynthetic organisms. Cryobiology 43: 63–70.
Risgaard-Petersen, N., Rysgaard, S., Nielsen, L.P. and Revsbech, N.P. (1994) Diurnal variation of dentrification and nitrification in sediments colonized by benthic microphytes. Limnol. Oceanogr. 39: 573–579.
Rysgaard, S., Thamdrup, B., Risgaard-Petersen, N., Fossing, H., Berg, P., Bondo, P.B. and Dalsgaard, T. (1998) Seasonal carbon and nutrient mineralisation in a high-Arctic coastal marine sediment, Young Sound, NE Greenland. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 175: 261–276.
Rysgaard, S., Nielsen, T.G. and Hansen, B.W. (1999) Seasonal variation in nutrients, pelagic primary production and grazing in a high-Arctic coastal marine ecosystem, Young Sound, NE Greenland. Mar. Ecol. Prog. Ser. 179: 13–25.
Sejr, M.K., Jensen, K.T. and Rysgaard, S. (2000) Macrozoobenthic structure in a high-Arctic east Greenland fjord. Polar Biol. 23: 792–801.
Svendsen, H., Beszczynska-Møller, A., Hagen, J.O., Lefauconnier, B., Tverberg, V., Gerland, S., Bischof, K., Papucci, C., Ă˜rbæk, J.B., Zajaczkowski, M., Azzolini, R., Bruland, O., Wiencke, C., Winther, J.G. and Dallmann, W. (2002) The physical environment of Kongsfjorden-Krossfjorden, an Arctic fjord system in Svalbard. Polar Res. 21: 133–166.
Thomas, D.N. and Dieckmann, G.S. (2002) Antarctic sea ice – a habitat for extremophiles. Science 295: 641–644.
Webb, W.L., Newton, M. and Starr, D. (1974) Carbon dioxid exchange of Alnus rubra: a mathematical model. Oecologia 17: 281–291.
Wiencke, C. (2004) The coastal ecosystem of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Synopsis of biological research performed at the Koldewey Station in the years 1991–2003. Rep. Polar Mar. Res. 492: 1–244.
Woelfel, J., Schumann, R., Peine, F., Kruss, A., Tegowski, J., Blondel, P., Flohr, A., Wiencke, C. and Karsten, U. (2010) Microphytobenthos of Arctic Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway) – quantification of ex situ primary production by use of incubation chambers equipped with planar optode spots and structural analyses of biomass. Polar Biol. 33: 1239–1253.
Wulff. A., Roleda, M.Y., Zacher, K. and Wiencke, C. (2008) Exposure to sudden light burst after prolonged darkness – a case study on benthic diatoms in Antarctica. Diat. Res. 23: 519–532.
Wulff, A., Iken, K., Quartino, M.L., Al-Handal, A., Wiencke, C. and Clayton, M.N. (2009) Biodiversity, biogeography and zonation of benthic micro- and macroalgae in the Arctic and Antarctic. Bot. Mar. 52: 491–507.
Acknowledgements
We thank Mandy Rickler for providing some of the ecophysiological data. The field work has been performed at the Ny-Ålesund International Arctic environmental Research and Monitoring Facility and under the agreement on scientific cooperation between the Alfred Wegener Institute and the University of Rostock. The authors thank the crew and divers at the AWIPEV-base in Ny Ålesund for technical support. We greatly appreciate financial support by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Projects Ka 899/12-1/2/3 and Ka 899/15-1) and by ARCFAC V (project nr. 026129–70).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Schlie, C., Woelfel, J., RĂ¼diger, F., Schumann, R., Karsten, U. (2011). Ecophysiological Performance of Benthic Diatoms from Arctic Waters. In: Seckbach, J., Kociolek, P. (eds) The Diatom World. Cellular Origin, Life in Extreme Habitats and Astrobiology, vol 19. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1327-7_19
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-1327-7_19
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-1326-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-1327-7
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)