Abstract
The distribution and variability of picoplankton and nanoplankton in Admiralty Bay (King George Island, South Shetland Islands, Antarctica) were studied by investigation of five sampling sites during the austral summer of 2010/2011. After a relatively warm winter, the water temperature in the early summer (>0.02 °C) was higher than is normal in December. The spatial–temporal variability of salinity was low, whereas water temperature and chlorophyll a increased significantly (p < 0.05) toward late summer. Nitrite and phosphate concentrations increased whereas nitrate and silicate decreased during the summer. Picoplankton increased by late summer and was dominated by heterotrophs (>96 %), with abundance and biomass tenfold (~109 cells L−1) and twofold (~60 µg C L−1) higher, respectively, than were observed in previous studies. In contrast, nanoplankton was dominated by photoautotrophs (>60 %), and values were highest in the early summer, with cell numbers (~106 cells L−1) and biomass (~90 µg C L−1) a factor of two lower than those found in a previous study. Temperature changes, inputs from ice melting, and grazing relationships between planktonic components seemed to have crucially important effects on the distribution patterns of these pico and nanoplankton communities. We suggest that additional study must be performed to develop a better understanding of abiotic and biotic factors that affect the abundance, biomass, and production of plankton smaller than 20 µm, their place in the microbial food web and the possible consequences of environmental changes on higher trophic levels in such Antarctic coastal environments as Admiralty Bay ASMA.
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Acknowledgments
This work was developed as a part of the National Institute of Science and Technology Antarctic Environmental Research (INCT-APA), that receive scientific and financial supports of the National Council for Research and Development (CNPq process: n° 574018/2008-5) and Research Support Foundation of the State of Rio de Janeiro (FAPERJ n° E-16/170.023/2008). The authors are also grateful for support from the Brazilian Ministries of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MCTI) and from Environment (MMA), the Inter-Ministry Commission for Sea Resources (CIRM), and the Brazilian Navy (MB). Thanks are also extended to the Marine Organic Chemical Laboratory of the Oceanographic Institute of Sao Paulo University (LabQOM-IOUSP) for physical and chemical analysis, to Dr Terezinha Absher (CEM-UFPR) for in-situ wind speed and air temperature measurements, to Moura RB for the figure showing the study area (Fig. 1), and to the Marine Organic Chemical Laboratory of the Oceanographic Institute of Sao Paulo University (LabQOM-IOUSP). M. Vanzan thanks CNPq for the Technological and Industrial Development fellowship under grant no. 385083/2013-0. J.J. Barrera-Alba thanks CNPq for the post-doctoral fellowship under grant no. 151651/2010-8. M.M.B. Tenório thanks FAPERJ/CAPES for the post-doctoral fellowship under grant no. E-26/102.015/2009.
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Vanzan, M., Barrera-Alba, J.J., Tenório, M.M.B. et al. Picoplankton and nanoplankton variability in an Antarctic shallow coastal zone (Admiralty Bay) during the austral summer of 2010/2011. Polar Biol 38, 1267–1284 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1692-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1692-1