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Phytoplankton blooms under dim and cold conditions in freshwater lakes of East Antarctica

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Abstract

The seasonal variations of limnological (water temperature, light availability, turbidity, and chlorophyll a concentration) parameters were recorded continuously from January 2004 to February 2005 at two freshwater lakes: Oyako-ike and Hotoke-ike, Sôya Coast, East Antarctica. Water was in a liquid phase throughout the year, with temperatures ranging from 0 to 10°C. The maximum photosynthetically active radiation in Lake Oyako-ike was 23.16 mol m−2 day−1 (at 3.8 m) and Hotoke-ike was 53.01 mol m−2 day−1 (at 2.2 m) in summer, and chlorophyll a concentration ranged from ca. 0.5 to 2.5 μg L−1 (Oyako-ike) and from ca. 0.1 to 0.8 μg L−1 (Hotoke-ike) during the study period. Increase in chlorophyll a fluorescence occurred under dim-light conditions when the lakes were covered with ice in spring and autumn, but the signals were minimum in ice-free summer in both the lakes. During spring and summer, as a result of decreasing snow cover, the chlorophyll a concentration similarly decreased when PAR was relatively high, following periods of heavy winds. The autumnal and spring increase occurred under different PAR levels (ca. 20-fold and 90-fold stronger, respectively, in autumn in both the lakes). Differences in the autumn and spring increases suggest that the spring algal community is more shade-adapted than the autumn algal community. Antarctic phytoplankton appears especially adapted to low-light levels and inhibited by strong light regimes.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge the members of the 45th Japanese Antarctic Research Expedition (JARE), especially its leader Dr. H. Kanda, for their support in the field and other ways. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive remarks.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polar Science, The Graduate University for Advanced Studies, Kaga 1-chome 9-10, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8515, Japan

    Yukiko Tanabe, Sakae Kudoh, Satoshi Imura & Mitsuo Fukuchi

  2. National Institute of Polar Research, Kaga 1-chome 9-10, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo, 173-8515, Japan

    Sakae Kudoh, Satoshi Imura & Mitsuo Fukuchi

Authors
  1. Yukiko Tanabe
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  2. Sakae Kudoh
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  3. Satoshi Imura
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  4. Mitsuo Fukuchi
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Correspondence to Yukiko Tanabe.

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Tanabe, Y., Kudoh, S., Imura, S. et al. Phytoplankton blooms under dim and cold conditions in freshwater lakes of East Antarctica. Polar Biol 31, 199–208 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0347-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-007-0347-2

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