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The biota of Antarctic pack ice in the Weddell sea and Antarctic Peninsula regions

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Summary

Pack ice surrounding Antarctica supports rich and varied populations of microbial organisms. As part of the Antarctic Marine Ecosystem Research in the Ice Edge Zone (AMERIEZ) studies, we have examined this community during the late spring, autumn, and winter. Although organisms are found throughout the ice, the richest concentrations often occur in the surface layer. The ice flora consists of diatoms and flagellates. Chrysophyte cysts (archaeomonads) of unknown affinity and dinoflagellate cysts are abundant and may serve as overwintering stages in ice. The ice fauna includes a variety of heterotrophic flagellates, ciliates, and micrometazoa. The abundance of heterotrophs indicates an active food web within the ice community. Ice may serve as a temporary habitat or refuge for many of the microbial forms and some of these appear to provide an inoculum for planktonic populations when ice melts. Larger consumers, such as copepods and the Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba are often found on the underside of ice floes and within weathered floes. The importance of the ice biota as a food resource for these pelagic consumers is unknown.

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  1. Institute of Marine Sciences, University of California, 95064, Santa Cruz, CA, USA

    David L. Garrison & Kurt R. Buck

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  1. David L. Garrison
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  2. Kurt R. Buck
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Garrison, D.L., Buck, K.R. The biota of Antarctic pack ice in the Weddell sea and Antarctic Peninsula regions. Polar Biol 10, 211–219 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238497

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