Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Drift-ice and under-ice water communities in the Gulf of Bothnia (Baltic Sea)

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The algal, protozoan and metazoan communities within different drift-ice types (newly formed, pancake and rafted ice) and in under-ice water were studied in the Gulf of Bothnia in March 2006. In ice, diatoms together with unidentified flagellates dominated the algal biomass (226 ± 154 μg ww l−1) and rotifers the metazoan and protozoan biomass (32 ± 25 μg ww l−1). The under-ice water communities were dominated by flagellates and ciliates, which resulted in lower biomasses (97 ± 25 and 21 ± 14 μg ww l−1, respectively). The under-ice water and newly formed ice separated from all other samples to their own cluster in hierarchical cluster analysis. The most important discriminating factors, according to discriminant analysis, were chlorophyll-a, phosphate and silicate. The under-ice water/newly formed ice cluster was characterized by high nutrient and low chlorophyll-a values, while the opposite held true for the ice cluster. Increasing trends in chlorophyll-a concentration and biomass were observed with increasing ice thickness. Within the thick ice columns (>40 cm), the highest chlorophyll-a concentrations (6.6–22.2 μg l−1) were in the bottom layers indicating photoacclimation of the sympagic community. The ice algal biomass showed additional peaks in the centric diatom-dominated surface layers coinciding with the highest photosynthetic efficiencies [0.019–0.032 μg C (μg Chl-a −1 h−1) (μE m−2 s−1)−1] and maximum photosynthetic capacities [0.43-1.29 μg C (μg Chl-a −1 h−1)]. Rafting and snow-ice formation, determined from thin sections and stable oxygen isotopic composition, strongly influenced the physical, chemical and biological properties of the ice. Snow-ice formation provided the surface layers with nutrients and possibly habitable space, which seemed to have favored centric diatoms in our study.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Ackley SF, Sullivan CW (1994) Physical controls on the development and characteristics of Antarctic sea ice biological communities—a review and synthesis. Deep-Sea Res 41:1583–1604

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ban A, Aikawa S, Hattori H, Sasaki H, Sampei M, Kudoh S, Fukuchi M, Satoh K, Kashino Y (2006) Comparative analysis of photosynthetic properties in ice algae and phytoplankton inhabiting Franklin Bay, the Canadian Arctic, with those in mesophilic diatoms during CASES 03–04. Polar Biosci 19:11–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Barlow RG, Gosselin M, Legendre L, Therriault JC, Demers S, Mantoura RFC, Llewellyn CA (1988) Photoadaptive strategies in sea-ice microalgae. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 45:145–152

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Buch K (1945) Kolsyrejämvikten i Baltiska Havet. Fennia 68:29–81

    Google Scholar 

  • Cota GF, Legendre L, Gosselin M, Ingram RG (1991) Ecology of bottom ice algae: I. Environmental controls and variability. J Mar Syst 2:257–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cox GFN, Weeks WF (1983) Equations for determining the gas and brine volumes in sea-ice samples. J Glaciol 29:306–316

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolan JR, Gallegos CC (1992) Trophic role of planktonic rotifers in the Rhode River Estuary, spring–summer 1991. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 85:187–199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dunbar MJ, Acreman JC (1980) Standing crops of diatoms in sea ice from Robertson Channel to the Gulf of St Lawrence. Ophelia 19:61–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Egloff D (1988) Food and growth relations of the marine microzooplankter, Synchaeta cecilia (Rotifera). Hydrobiologia 157:129–141

    Google Scholar 

  • Eicken H (1992) The role of sea ice in structuring Antarctic ecosystems. Polar Biol 12:3–13

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Eicken H, Lange M (1989) Development and properties of sea ice in the coastal regime of the southeastern Weddell Sea. J Geophys Res 94(C6):8193–8206

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Falkowski PG, Raven JA (1997) Aquatic photosynthesis. Blackwell, Malden

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrison DL, Buck KR (1986) Organism losses during ice melting: a serious bias in sea-ice community studies. Polar Biol 6:237–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Granskog M, Kaartokallio H, Kuosa H, Thomas DN, Vainio J (2006) Sea ice in the Baltic Sea—a review. Est Coast Shelf Sci 70:145–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haecky P, Andersson A (1999) Primary and bacterial production in sea ice in the northern Baltic Sea. Aquat Microb Ecol 20:107–118

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haecky P, Jonsson S, Andersson A (1998) Influence of sea ice on the composition of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the northern Baltic Sea. Polar Biol 20:1–8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hällfors G, Niemi Å (1974) A Chrysochromulina (Haptophyceae) bloom under the ice in the Tvärminne archipelago, southern coast of Finland. Mem Soc Fauna Flora Fenn 50:89–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Hansen HP, Koroleff F (1999) Determination of nutrients. In: Grashoff K, Kremling K, Ehrhardt M (eds) Methods of seawater analysis, 3rd edn. Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, pp 159–228

    Google Scholar 

  • HELCOM (1988) Guidelines for the Baltic monitoring programme for the third stage; Part D. Biological determinants. Balt Sea Environ Proc 27D:16–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Henley WJ (1993) Measurement and interpretation of photosynthetic light-response curves in algae in the context of photoinhibition and dial changes. J Phycol 29:729–739

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huttunen M, Niemi Å (1986) Sea-ice algae in the Northern Baltic Sea. Mem Soc Fauna Flora Fenn 62:58–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikävalko J, Thomsen HA (1997) The Baltic Sea-ice biota (March 1994): a study of the protistan community. Eur J Protistol 33:229–243

    Google Scholar 

  • Jeffries MO, Shaw RA, Morris K, Veazey AL, Krouse HR (1994) Crystal structure, stable isotopes (δ18O), and development of sea ice in the Ross, Amundsen, and Bellingshausen seas, Antarctica. J Geophys Res 99(C1):985–995

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaartokallio H (2004) Food web components, and physical and chemical properties of Baltic Sea ice. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 273:49–63

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kaartokallio H (2005) Sea-ice ecology in the Baltic Sea with special emphasis on bacteria. Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation Sci Rep 27:1–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaartokallio H, Kuosa H, Thomas DN, Granskog MA, Kivi K (2007) Biomass, composition and activity of organism assemblages along a salinity gradient in sea ice subjected to river discharge in the Baltic Sea. Polar Biol 30:183–197

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaartokallio H, Tuomainen J, Kuosa H, Kuparinen J, Martikainen PJ, Servomaa K (2008) Succession of sea-ice bacterial communities in the Baltic Sea fast ice. Polar Biol 31:783–793

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kottmeier ST, Sullivan CW (1988) Sea-ice microbial communities 9. Effects of temperature and salinity on rates of metabolism and growth of autotrophs and heterotrophs. Polar Biol 8:293–304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Krembs C, Gradinger R, Spindler M (2000) Implications of brine channel geometry and surface area for the interaction of sympagic organisms in Arctic Sea ice. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 243:55–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Larsen J, Kuosa H, Ikävalko J, Kivi K, Hällfors S (1995) A redescription of Scrippsiella hangoei (Schiller) comb. nov.—a red tide dinoflagellate from the Northern Baltic. Phycologia 34:135–144

    Google Scholar 

  • Leppäranta M, Manninen T (1988) The brine and gas content of sea ice with attention to low salinities and high temperatures. Finn Inst Mar Res Rep 1988:1–14

    Google Scholar 

  • 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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lynn DH (2008) The ciliated protozoa: characterization, classification, and guide to the literature. Springer, London

    Google Scholar 

  • McMinn A, Hattori H, Hirawake T, Iwamoto A (2008) Preliminary investigation of Okhotsk Sea-ice algae; taxonomic composition and photosynthetic activity. Polar Biol 31:1011–1015

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Meiners K, Fehling J, Granskog MA, Spindler M (2002) Abundance, biomass and composition of biota in Baltic Sea ice and underlying water (March 2000). Polar Biol 25:761–770

    Google Scholar 

  • Mock T (2002) In situ primary production in young Antarctic Sea ice. Hydrobiologia 470:127–132

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Moore CM, Suggett DJ, Hickman AE, Kim Y-N, Tweddle J, Sharples J, Geider RJ, Holligan PM (2006) Phytoplankton photoacclimation and photoadaptation in response to environmental gradients in a shelf sea. Limnol Oceanogr 51:936–949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Norrman B, Andersson A (1994) Development of ice biota in the temperate sea area (Gulf of Bothnia). Polar Biol 14:531–537

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Olenina I, Hajdu S, Edler L, Andersson A, Wasmund N, Busch S, Göbel J, Gromisz S, Huseby S, Huttunen M, Jaanus A, Kokkonen P, Ledaine I, Niemkiewicz E (2006) Biovolumes and size-classes of phytoplankton in the Baltic Sea. HELCOM Balt Sea Environ Proc 106:144

    Google Scholar 

  • Omstedt A (1985) An investigation of the crystal structure of sea ice in the Bothnian Bay. SMHI report 40, Norrköping

  • Palmisano AC, SooHoo JB, Sullivan CW (1985) Photosynthesis–irradiance relationships in sea-ice microalgae from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. J Phycol 21:341–346

    Google Scholar 

  • Palosuo E (1961) Crystal structure of brackish and freshwater ice. IASH 54:9–14

    Google Scholar 

  • Platt T, Gallegos CL, Harrison WG (1980) Photoinhibition of photosynthesis in natural assemblages of marine phytoplankton. J Mar Res 38:687–701

    Google Scholar 

  • Rintala J-M, Piiparinen J, Ehn J, Autio R, Kuosa H (2006) Changes in phytoplankton biomass and nutrient quantities in sea ice as responses to light/dark manipulations during different phases of the Baltic winter 2003. Hydrobiologia 554:11–24

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Robinson DH, Kolber Z, Sullivan CW (1997) Photophysiology and photoacclimation in surface sea-ice algae from McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 147:243–256

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Utermöhl H (1958) Zur Vervollkommnung der quantitativen Phytoplankton-Methodik. Mitt Int Ver Theor Angew Limnol 9:1–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Ward JH Jr (1963) Hierarchical grouping to optimize an objective function. J Am Stat Assoc 58:236–244

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weeks WF, Gow AJ, Kosloff P, Digby-Argus S (1990) The internal structure, composition and properties of brackish ice from the Bay of Bothnia. CRREL Monogr 90–1:5–15

    Google Scholar 

  • Werner I, Auel H (2004) Environmental conditions and overwintering strategies of planktonic metazoans in and below coastal fast ice in the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea). Sarsia 89:102–116

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible by the financial support of Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation. The Finnish Institute of Marine Research is acknowledged for providing the office and laboratory facilities. We also wish to acknowledge M.Sc. Vilma Rouvinen for her assistance in the preparations before and during the cruise and Dr. Kai Kivi for microscopy work. Dr. Mats Granskog is thanked for employing Jari Uusikivi to carry out the structural analysis of sea-ice samples. We owe our greatest gratitude to Prof. Klaus Jürgens, who on behalf of the Leibniz-Institute für Ostseeforschung Warnemünde (IOW) invited J.-M. Rintala to participate in the maiden voyage of the research vessel Maria S. Merian. The skilled staff, crew and all the scientists onboard are also acknowledged for their assistance, enthusiasm and patience.

Author information

Author notes

  1. Janne-Markus Rintala & Jonna Piiparinen

    Present address: University of Helsinki, Tvärminne Zoological Station, J.A. Palménintie 260, 10900, Hanko, Finland

  2. Jari Uusikivi

    Present address: Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Finnish Institute of Marine Research, P.O. Box 2, 00560, Helsinki, Finland

    Janne-Markus Rintala & Jonna Piiparinen

  2. Finnish Environment Institute, Marine Centre, P.O. Box 140, 00251, Helsinki, Finland

    Janne-Markus Rintala & Jonna Piiparinen

Authors
  1. Janne-Markus Rintala
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jonna Piiparinen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jari Uusikivi
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janne-Markus Rintala.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Rintala, JM., Piiparinen, J. & Uusikivi, J. Drift-ice and under-ice water communities in the Gulf of Bothnia (Baltic Sea). Polar Biol 33, 179–191 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0695-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0695-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation