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Phytoplankton and phytobenthos pigment strategies: implications for algal survival in the changing Arctic

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Abstract

We compared phytoplankton and phytobenthos pigment strategies in 17 shallow lakes and ponds from northern Canada and Alaska, sampled during mid to late summer. Benthic chlorophyll a concentrations (8–261 mg m−2) greatly exceeded those of the phytoplankton (0.008–1.4 mg m−2) in all sites. Cyanobacteria dominated the phytobenthos, while green algae and fucoxanthin-groups characterized the plankton. Both communities had higher photoprotection in cold, UV-transparent, high latitude waters. Phytoplankton had higher concentrations of photoprotective carotenoids per unit chlorophyll a than the phytobenthos. The planktonic photoprotective pigments were positively correlated with UV-penetration, and inversely correlated with temperature and coloured dissolved organic matter. A partial redundancy analysis showed that the benthic pigments were related to latitude, area and temperature. The UV-screening compound scytonemin occurred in high concentrations in the phytobenthos and was inversely related to temperature, while benthic carotenoids per unit chlorophyll a showed much lower variability among sites. These differing pigment strategies imply divergent responses to environmental change between the phytobenthos and phytoplankton in high latitude lakes.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Marie-Josée Martineau for technical assistance and Dermot Antoniades, Teresa Buchaca, Carla Kruk and two anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments on the manuscript. This work was funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and ArcticNet, with logistic support from Polar Shelf (Natural Resources Canada; this is PCSP publication number 01909).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sección Limnología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República, 11400, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Sylvia Bonilla

  2. Département des sciences fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi and Centre d’Études Nordiques, Chicoutimi, QC, G7H 2B1, Canada

    Milla Rautio

  3. Département de Biologie and Centre d’Études Nordiques, Université Laval, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada

    Warwick F. Vincent

Authors
  1. Sylvia Bonilla
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  2. Milla Rautio
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Correspondence to Sylvia Bonilla.

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300_2009_626_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Table S1. Environmental characteristics of the 17 studied water bodies in northern Quebec (NQuebec), Alaska, Cornwallis Island (CornI), Ellesmere Island Lake Hazen area (Elles-1) and Ellesmere Island North and Ward Hunt Island (Elles-2). Lat: Latitude; Z = maximum depth; T: temperature; Cond: conductivity; CDOM : coloured dissolved organic matter, estimated by a320. Catchment type (vegetation) is indicated for each region *: n=not measured. (DOC 70 kb)

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Bonilla, S., Rautio, M. & Vincent, W.F. Phytoplankton and phytobenthos pigment strategies: implications for algal survival in the changing Arctic. Polar Biol 32, 1293–1303 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0626-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-009-0626-1

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