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The role of platelet ice microalgae in seeding phytoplankton blooms in Terra Nova Bay (Ross Sea, Antarctica): a mesocosm experiment

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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.

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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento delle Scienze Biologiche, Università di Napoli Federico II, Via Mezzocannone 8, 80134, Naples, Italy

    Olga Mangoni

  2. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale I, 80121, Naples, Italy

    Maria Saggiomo, Monica Modigh, Adriana Zingone & Vincenzo Saggiomo

  3. CNR, Istituto di Scienze Marine, Viale Romolo Gessi 2, 34123, Trieste, Italy

    Giulio Catalano

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  1. Olga Mangoni
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  2. Maria Saggiomo
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  3. Monica Modigh
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  4. Giulio Catalano
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  5. Adriana Zingone
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  6. Vincenzo Saggiomo
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Correspondence to Vincenzo Saggiomo.

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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.

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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

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