Abstract
The aim of this study was to assess the role of platelet ice microalgal communities in seeding pelagic blooms. Nutrient dynamics, microalgal biomass, photosynthetic parameters, cell densities and species succession were studied in two mesocosm experiments, designed to simulate the transition of microalgal communities from platelet ice habitat to pelagic conditions. The microalgal assemblages were dominated by diatoms, 70% of which were benthic species such as Amphiprora kufferathii, Nitzschia stellata, and Berkeleya adeliensis. Photoacclimation of benthic species was inadequate also at relatively low irradiances. Exceptional growth capacity at different light levels was observed for pelagic species such as Fragilariopsis cylindrus and Chaetoceros spp. which may be important in seeding blooms at ice breakup. Fragilariopsis cylindrus showed high growth rates both at 65 and 10% of incident light and in nutrient replete as well as in nutrient depleted conditions. Five days after inoculation, phytoplankton biomass increased and nutrient concentrations decreased in both light conditions. Nutrient uptake rates were up to 9.10 μmol L−1 d−1 of TIN in the high light tank and 6.18 μmol L−1 d−1 in the low light tank and nutrient depletion in the high light tank occurred 3 days prior to depletion in the low light tank. At nutrient depletion, biomass concentrations were similar in both tanks, 30 and 34 μg Chla L−1.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Andreoli C, Tolomio C, Moro I, Radice M, Moschin E, Bellato S (1995) Diatoms and dinoflagellates in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea-Antarctica) during austral summer 1990. Polar Biol 15:465–475
Armand LK, Leventer A (2003) Paleo sea ice distribution—reconstruction and paleoclimatic significance. In: Thomas DN, Dieckmann GS (eds) Sea ice–an introduction to its physics, chemistry, biology and geology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 333–372
Arrigo KR, Robinson DH, Sullivan CW (1993) A high resolution study of the platelet ice ecosystem in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica: photosynthetic and bio-optical characteristics of a dense microalgal bloom. Mar Ecol Progr Ser 98:173–185
Arrigo KR, Lizotte MP, Dixon P, Dieckmann G (1997) Primary production in Antarctic sea ice. Science 276:394–397
Arrigo KR, Robinson DH, Worthen DL, Dunbar RB, DiTullio GR, Van Woert M, Lizotte MP (1999) Phytoplankton community structure and the drawdown of nutrients and CO2 in the Southern Ocean. Science 283:365–367
Arrigo KR, DiTullio GR, Dunbar RB, Lizotte MP, Robinson DH, Van Woert M, Worthen DL (2000) Phytoplankton taxonomic variability and nutrient utilization and primary production in the Ross Sea. J Geophys Res 105:8827–8846
Arrigo KR, Thomas DN (2004) Large scale importance of sea ice biology in the Southern Ocean. Antarct Sci 16:471–486
Babin M, Morel A, Gagnon R (1994) An incubator designed for extensive and sensitive measurements of phytoplankton photosynthetic parameters. Limnol Oceanogr 39:694–702
Brierley AS, Thomas DN (2002) Ecology of Southern Ocean pack ice. Adv Mar Biol 43:171–276
Bunt JS (1964) Primary productivity under sea ice in Antarctic waters. I Concentrations and photosynthetic activities of microalgae in the waters of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Antarct Res Ser 1:13–26
Bunt JS, Lee CC (1970) Seasonal primary production in Antarctic sea ice at McMurdo Sound in 1967. J Mar Res 28:304–320
Chepurnov VA, Mann DG, Sabbe K, Vyverman W (2004) Experimental studies on sexual reproduction in diatoms. Int Rev Cytol 237:91–154
Cota FG, Smith REH (1991) Ecology of bottom ice algae: III. Comparative physiology. J Mar Syst 2:297–315
Cunningham WL, Leventer A (1988) Diatom assemblages in surface sediments of the Ross Sea: relationship to present oceanographic conditions. Antarct Sci 10(2):134–146
Daly KL (1998) Physioecology of juvenile Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) during spring in ice covered seas. In: Lizotte MP, Arrigo KR (eds) Antarctic sea ice: biological processes, interactions and variability. Antarct Res Ser 73:183–198
Dortch Q, Clayton JR, Thoresen SS, Ahmed SI (1984) Species differences in accumulation of nitrogen pools in phytoplankton. Mar Biol 81(3):237–250
Dunbar RB, Arrigo KR, Lutz M, DiTullio GR, Leventer AR, Lizotte MP, Van Woert MP, Robinson DH (2003) Non-Redfield production and export of marine organic matter: A recurrent part of the annual cycle in the Ross Sea, Antarctica. In: DiTullio GR, Dunbar RB (eds) Biogeochemistry of the Ross Sea. Antarct Res Ser 78:179–196
Eicken H (1992) The role of sea ice in structuring Antarctic ecosystems. Polar Biol 12:3–13
Falkowski PG, Raven JA (1997) Aquatic photosynthesis. Blackwell, Malden, p 374
Frazer TK (1996) Stable isotopes (d13C and d15N) of larval krill, Euphausia superba, and two of its potential food resources in water. J Plankton Res 18:1413–1426
Garrison DL, Sullivan CW, Ackley SF (1986) Sea ice microbial community studies in the Antarctic. BioSci 36:243–250
Garrison DL, Mathot S (1996) Pelagic and sea ice microbial communities. In: Ross RM, Hofmann EE, Quetin LB (eds) Foundations for ecological research West of the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarct Res Ser 70:155–172
Gleitz M, Bartsch A, Dieckmann GS, Eicken H (1998) Composition and succession of sea ice diatom assemblages in the eastern and southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. In: Lizotte MP, Arrigo KR (eds) Antarctic Sea ice: biological processes, interactions, and variability. Antarct Res Ser 73:107–120
Gonzáles HE (1992) Distribution and abundance of minipellets around the Antarctic Peninsula. Implications for protistan feeding behaviour. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 90:223–236
Grasshoff M (1983) Determination of nutrients. In: Grasshoff K, Ehrhardt M, Kremling K (eds) Methods of seawater analysis. Verlag Chemie, Weinheim, pp 125–187
Grossi SM, Kottmeier ST, Moe RL, Taylor GT, Sullivan CW (1987) Sea ice microbial communities. VI. Growth and production in bottom ice under graded snow cover. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 35:153–164
Guglielmo L, Carrada GC, Catalano G, Dell’Anno A, Fabiano M, Lazzara L, Mangoni O, Pusceddu A, Saggiomo V (2000) Structural and functional properties of microbial communities in the annual sea ice at Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea—Antarctica). Polar Biol 23:137–146
Harrison PJ, Turpin DH, Bienfang PK, Davis CO (1986) Sinking as a factor affecting phytoplankton species succession: the use of selective loss semi-continuous cultures. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 99:19–30
Holm-Hansen O, Lorenzen CJ, Holmes RW, Strickland JDH (1965) Fluorimetric determination of chlorophyll. J Cons Per Int Expl Mer 30:3–15
Horner RA (1985) Ecology of sea ice microalgae. In: Horner RA (ed) Sea ice biota. CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 83–105
Horner RA, Ackley SF, Dieckmann GS, Gulliksen B, Hoshiai T, Legendre L, Melnikov IA, Reeburgh WS, Spindler M, Sullivan CW (1992) Ecology of sea ice biota. 1. Habitat, terminology, and methodology. Polar Biol 12:417–427
Kang S-H, Fryxell GA (1992) Fragilariopsis cylindrus (Grunow) Krieger: the most abundant diatoms in water column assemblages of Antarctic marginal ice-edge. Polar Biol 12:609–627
Kottmeier ST, Gross SM, Sullivan CW (1987) Sea ice microbial communities. VIII. Bacterial production in annual sea ice of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 35:175–186
Lazzara L, Nardello I, Gallo C, Mangoni O, Saggiomo V (2007) Light environment and seasonal dynamics of microalgae in the annual sea ice at Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica). Antarct Sci 19(1):83–92
Legendre L, Demers S, Yentsch CM, Yentsch CS (1983) The 14C method: patterns of dark CO2 fixation and DCMU correction to replace the dark bottle. Limnol Oceanogr 28:996–1003
Leventer A (2003) Particulate flux from sea ice in Polar waters. In: Thomas DN, Dieckmann GS (eds) Sea ice–an introduction to its physics, chemistry, biology and geology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 303–332
Leventer A, Dunbar RB (1966) Factors influencing the distribution of diatoms and other algae in the Ross Sea. Geophys Res Ocean 101(C8):18489–18500
Lizotte MP, Sullivan CW (1991) Photosynthesis-irradiance relationships in microalgae associated with Antarctic pack ice: evidence for in situ activity. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 71:175–184
Lizotte MP (2001) The contribution of sea ice algae to Antarctic marine primary production. Am Zool 41:57–73
Lizotte MP (2003) Microbiology of sea ice. In: Thomas DN, Dieckmann GS (eds) Sea Ice–an introduction to its physics, chemistry, biology and geology. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 184–210
Lundholm N, Hasle GR (2008) Are Fragilariopsis cylindrus and Fragilariopsis nana bipolar diatoms?—morphological and molecular analyses of two sympatric species. Nova Hedwig Beih 133:231–250
MacIntyre HL, Kana TM, Anning T, Geider RJ (2002) Photoacclimation of photosynthesis irradiance response curves and photosynthetic pigments in microalgae and cyanobacteria. J Phycol 38:17–38
Mangoni O, Carrada GC, Modigh M, Catalano G, Saggiomo V (2008) Photoacclimation in Antarctic bottom ice algae: an experimental approach. Polar Biol. doi:10.1007/s00300-008-0517-x, this issue
Magurran AE (1988) Ecological diversity and its measurement. Chapman and Hall, London
Medlin LK, Priddle J (1990) Polar marine diatoms. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge
Mock T, Thomas DN (2005) Recent advances in sea ice microbiology. Environ Microbiol 7(5):605–619
Moro I, Paccagnella R, Barbante C, Andreoli C (2000) Microalgal communities of the sea ice, ice-covered and ice-free waters of Wood Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica) during the austral summer 1993–94. PSZNI Mar Ecol 21:233–245
Palmisano AC, SooHoo JB, Sullivan CW (1985) Photosynthesis-irradiance relationships in sea ice microalgae from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. J Phycol 21:341–346
Palmisano AC, Beeler SooHoo J, Sullivan CW (1987) Effects of four environmental variables on photosynthesis-irradiance relationships in Antarctic sea ice microalgae. Mar Biol 94:299–306
Platt T, Gallegos CL, Harrison WG (1980) Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in natural assemblages of marine phytoplankton. J Mar Res 38:687–701
Quetin LB, Ross RM, Frazer TK, Haberman KL (1996) Factors affecting distribution and abundance of zooplankton, with an emphasis on Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba. In: Ross RM, Hofmann EE, Quetin LB (eds) Foundations for ecological research West of the Antarctic Peninsula. Antarct Res Ser 70:357–371
Riaux-Gobin C, Tréguer P, Poulin M, Gilles Vétion (2000) Nutrients, algal biomass and communities in land-fast ice and seawater off Adélie Land (Antarctica). Antarct Sci 12:160–171
Riaux-Gobin C, Poulin M, Prodon R, Treguer P (2003) Land-fast ice microalgal and phytoplanktonic communities (Adélie Land, Antarctica) in relation to environmental factors during ice break-up. Antarct Sci 15(3):353–364
Robinson DH, Arrigo KR, Kolber Z, Gosselin M, Sullivan CW (1998) Photophysiological evidence of nutrient limitation of platelet ice algae in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. J Phycol 34:788–797
Saggiomo V, Carrada GC, Mangoni O, Ribera d’Alcalà M, Russo A (1998) Spatial and temporal variability of size-fractionated biomass and primary production in the Ross Sea (Antarctica) during austral spring and summer. J Mar Syst 115–127
Saggiomo V, Carrada GC, Mangoni O, Marino D, Ribera d’Alcalà M (2000) Physiological and ecological aspects of primary production in the Ross Sea. In: Faranda FM, Guglielmo L, Ianora A (eds) Ross Sea Ecology—Italian Antarctic expeditions (1987–1995). Springer, Berlin, pp 247–258
Saggiomo V, Catalano G, Mangoni O, Budillon G, Carrada GC (2002) Primary production processes in ice-free waters of the Ross Sea (Antarctica) during the austral summer 1996. Deep Sea Res II 49:1787–1801
Schnack-Schiel SB, Thomas D, Dahms H-U, Haas C, Mizdalski E (1998) Copepods in Antarctic sea ice. In: Lizotte MP, Arrigo KR (eds) Antarctic Sea ice: biological processes, interactions, and variability. Antarct Res Ser 73:173–182
Scott FJ, Thomas DP (2005) Diatoms. In: Scott FJ, Marchant HJ (eds) Antarctic marine protists. Australian biological resources study. Canberra and Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, pp 13–201
Smetacek V, Scharek R, Gordon LI, Eicken H, Fuhrbach E, Rohardt G, Moore S (1992) Early spring phytoplankton blooms in ice platelet layers of the southern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. Deep Sea Res 39:153–168
Smith WO, Nelson DM (1986) The importance of ice-edge phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean. Bioscience 36:251–257
Soohoo JB, Palmisano AC, Kottmeier ST, Lizotte MP, Soohoo SL, Sullivan CW (1987) Spectral light absorption and quantum yield of photosynthesis in sea ice microalgae and a bloom of Phaeocystis pouchetii from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 39:175–189
Thomas DN, Dieckmann GS (2002) Antarctic sea ice—a habitat for extremophiles. Science 295:641–644
Tomas CR (1997) Identifying marine phytoplankton. Academic Press, San Diego, p 858
Utermöhl H (1958) Zur Vervollkommnung der quantitativen Phytoplankton-Methodik. Mitt Int Ver Theor Angew Limnol 9:1–38
Acknowledgments
This work was carried out as part of the Italian National Programme for Antarctic Research (PNRA), whose support in the laboratory of the Mario Zucchelli Station in Terra Nova Bay is gratefully acknowledged. Thanks are due to Prof. G. R. DiTullio from Hollings Marine Lab, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, USA for very helpful discussions and constructive criticism during the preparation of the manuscript and to three anonymous reviewers.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
This article belongs to a special topic: Five articles on Sea-ice communities in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea), coordinated by L. Guglielmo and V. Saggiomo, appear in this issue of Polar Biology. The studies were conducted in the frame of the National Program of Research in Antarctica (PNRA) of Italy.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mangoni, O., Saggiomo, M., Modigh, M. et al. The role of platelet ice microalgae in seeding phytoplankton blooms in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica): a mesocosm experiment. Polar Biol 32, 311–323 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0507-z
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0507-z