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Winter-time ecology in the Bothnian Bay, Baltic Sea: nutrients and algae in fast ice

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Abstract

Landfast ice algal communities were studied in the strongly riverine-influenced northernmost part of the Baltic Sea, the Bothnian Bay, during the winter-spring transition of 2004. The under-ice river plume, detected by its low salinity and elevated nutrient concentrations, was observed only at the station closest to the river mouth. The bottommost ice layer at this station was formed from the plume water (brine volume 0.71%). This was reflected by the low flagellate-dominated (93%) algal biomass in the bottom layer, which was one-fifth of the diatom-dominated (74%) surface-layer biomass of 88 μg C l−1. Our results indicate that habitable space plays a controlling role for ice algae in the Bothnian Bay fast ice. Similarly to the water column in the Bothnian Bay, average dissolved inorganic N:P-ratios in the ice were high, varying between 12 and 265. The integrated chlorophyll a (0.1–2.2 mg m−2) and algal biomass in the ice (1–31 mg C m−2) correlated significantly (Spearman ρ = 0.79), with the highest values being measured close to the river mouth in March and during the melt season in April. Flagellates <20 μm generally dominated in both the ice and water columns in February–March. In April the main ice-algal biomass was composed of Melosira arctica and unidentified pennate diatoms, while in the water column Achnanthes taeniata, Scrippsiella hangoei and flagellates dominated. The photosynthetic efficiency (0.003–0.013 (μg C [μg chl a −1] h−1)(μE m−2s−1)−1) and maximum capacity (0.18–1.11 μg C [μg chl a −1] h−1) could not always be linked to the algal composition, but in the case of a clear diatom dominance, pennate species showed to be more dark-adapted than centric diatoms.

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Acknowledgments

The Walter and Andrée de Nottbeck Foundation is gratefully acknowledged for funding this study. We also wish to express our gratitude to the University of Oulu and the Finnish Institute of Marine Research for providing the facilities. We also want to thank Elina Leskinen and Tommi Lepistö for their assistance during the field campaign, Kai Kivi (†) for algal counts, Vivi Fleming-Lehtinen for help with the map and the anonymous reviewers for their comments that greatly improved this manuscript.

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

    Jonna Piiparinen & Janne-Markus Rintala

  2. Tvärminne Zoological Station, University of Helsinki, J.A. Palménin tie 260, 10900, Hanko, Finland

    Jonna Piiparinen, Harri Kuosa & Janne-Markus Rintala

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  1. Jonna Piiparinen
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Correspondence to Jonna Piiparinen.

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Piiparinen, J., Kuosa, H. & Rintala, JM. Winter-time ecology in the Bothnian Bay, Baltic Sea: nutrients and algae in fast ice. Polar Biol 33, 1445–1461 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-010-0771-6

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