Skip to main content
Publications | Persons | Institutes | Projects
[ report an error in this record ]basket (0): add | show Print this page

Microbial community structure in the marginal ice zone of the Bellingshausen Sea
Edwards, E.S.; Burkill, P.H.; Sleigh, M.A. (1998). Microbial community structure in the marginal ice zone of the Bellingshausen Sea. J. Mar. Syst. 17(1-4): 87-96. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0924-7963(98)00031-1
In: Journal of Marine Systems. Elsevier: Tokyo; Oxford; New York; Amsterdam. ISSN 0924-7963; e-ISSN 1879-1573, more
Also appears in:
Le Fèvre, J.; Tréguer, P. (Ed.) (1998). Carbon Fluxes and Dynamic Processes in the Southern Ocean: Present and Past. Selected papers from the International JGOFS Symposium, Brest, France, 28-31 August 1995. Journal of Marine Systems, 17(1-4). Elsevier: Amsterdam. 1-619 pp., more
Peer reviewed article  

Available in  Authors 

Keywords
    Organic matter > Particulates > Particulate organic matter > Organic carbon > Particulate organic carbon
    Population characteristics > Biomass
    PSW, Bellingshausen Sea
    Marine/Coastal

Authors  Top 
  • Edwards, E.S.
  • Burkill, P.H.
  • Sleigh, M.A.

Abstract
    Phytoplankton, bacteria and microzooplankton were investigated on a transect in the Bellingshausen Sea during the ice melt period in November–December 1992. The transect along the 85°W meridian comprised seven stations that progressed from solid pack-ice (70°S), through melting ice into open water (67°S). The abundance, biomass and taxonomic composition were determined for each component of the microbial community. The phytoplankton was mostly dominated by diatoms, particularly small (<20 μm) species. Diatom abundance ranged from 66 000 cells l−1 under the ice to 410 000 cells l−1 in open water. Phytoplankton biomass varied from <1 to 167 mg C m−3, with diatoms comprising 89–95% of the total biomass in open water and autotrophic nanoflagellates comprising 57% under the ice. The standing stocks of autotrophs in the mixed layer ranged from 95 mg C m−2 under the pack-ice to 9478 mg C m−2 in open waters. Bacterial abundance in ice-covered and open water stations varied from 1.1 to 5.5×108 cells l−1. Bacterial biomass ranged from 2.4 mg C m−3 under pack-ice to an average of 14 mg C m−3 in open water. The microzooplankton consisted mainly of aloricate oligotrich ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates and these were most abundant in open waters. Their biomass varied between 0.2 and 54 mg C m−3 with a minimum at depth under the ice and maximum in open surface waters. Microheterotrophic standing stocks varied between 396 mg C m−2 under pack-ice and 3677 mg C m−2 in the open waters. The standing stocks of the total microbial community increased consistently from 491 mg C m−2 at the ice station to 13 155 mg C m−2 in open waters, reflecting the productive response of the community to ice-melt. The composition of the microbial community also shifted markedly from one dominated by heterotrophs (82% of microbial stocks) at the ice station to one dominated by autotrophs (73% of microbial stocks) in the open water. Our estimates suggest that the microbial community comprised >100% of the total particulate organic carbon (POC) under the ice and 62–66% of the measured POC in the open waters.

All data in the Integrated Marine Information System (IMIS) is subject to the VLIZ privacy policy Top | Authors