Phytoplankton succession during a massive coastal diatom bloom at Marian Cove, King George Island, Antarctica
To understand the community structure and the functional dynamics of phytoplankton over the long term, it is essential to identify rapid changes in the properties of Antarctic phytoplankton communities in relation to ongoing changes in environmental factors due to climate change. This study investig...
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Published in | Polar biology Vol. 44; no. 10; pp. 1993 - 2010 |
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Main Authors | , , , , , , , , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
Berlin/Heidelberg
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
01.10.2021
Springer Springer Nature B.V |
Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | To understand the community structure and the functional dynamics of phytoplankton over the long term, it is essential to identify rapid changes in the properties of Antarctic phytoplankton communities in relation to ongoing changes in environmental factors due to climate change. This study investigated short-term variability in the phytoplankton biomass and its composition over the summer of 2010 when the sea surface temperature was lowest and chlorophyll-a (chl-a) concentrations were the highest, relative to a 15-year monitoring period (1996–2011). We assessed the intraseasonal variability of the phytoplankton assemblage structure and its synchrony with changes in the main environmental variables in Marian Cove of King George Island, Antarctica. Chlorophyll-a concentrations in summer 2010 (January–February) were significantly higher (up to 24 μg L
−1
) when the high phytoplankton carbon biomass (603 μg C L
−1
) was dominated by the sympagic diatom
Navicula glaciei
, the benthic diatoms
Licmophora belgicae
and
Fragilaria striatula
, the planktonic diatoms
Thalassiosira antarctica
and
Thalassiosira
spp. (cell size < 10 μm), and the Haptophyceae nanoplanktonic cells of
Phaeocystis antarctica
. Intraseasonal processes such as easterly winds direction on Maxwell Bay appeared to be the main factors affecting the advection of cold, nutrient-rich waters, and water stability that enhanced phytoplankton growth in Marian Cove. |
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ISSN: | 0722-4060 1432-2056 |
DOI: | 10.1007/s00300-021-02933-1 |