Inter-Research > MEPS > v386 > p43-59  
MEPS
Marine Ecology Progress Series

via Mailchimp

MEPS 386:43-59 (2009)  -  DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08092

Influence of environmental factors on the development of bottom ice protist communities during the winter–spring transition

Magdalena Rózańska1, Michel Gosselin1,*, Michel Poulin2, Józef Maria Wiktor3, Christine Michel4

1Institut des sciences de la mer (ISMER), Université du Québec à Rimouski, 310 Allée des Ursulines, Rimouski, Québec G5L 3A1, Canada
2Research Division, Canadian Museum of Nature, PO Box 3443, Station D, Ottawa, Ontario K1P 6P4, Canada
3Polish Academy of Sciences, Powstańców Warszawy 55, 81-712 Sopot, Poland
4Freshwater Institute, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 501 University Crescent, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N6, Canada
*Corresponding author. Email:

ABSTRACT: Seasonal changes in the abundance and taxonomic composition of bottom ice protists (i.e. diatoms, flagellates, and dinoflagellates) were assessed in the first-year landfast ice of Franklin Bay (Canadian Beaufort Sea) from 24 February to 20 June 2004. On each sampling day, bottom sea-ice protists were collected at sites of high (>10 cm) and low (<10 cm) snow cover. The net observed growth rates of diatoms and nanoflagellates were significantly higher during the pre-bloom (24 February to 25 March) than the bloom (ca. 3 April to 23 May) period under low snow cover but were not different under high snow cover. In contrast, dinoflagellates showed relatively constant net observed growth rate before and during the bloom period under both snow covers. These results indicate that the 3 protist groups responded differently to changes in the light regime during the growth period. The decline of the protist community after the bloom period was related to a combination of factors including nitrogen deficiency and melting processes. Prior to the bloom, flagellated cells, likely heterotrophic, dominated numerically under high snow cover, whereas autotrophic protists, especially solitary diatoms, prevailed under low snow cover. During the bloom period, colonial diatoms such as Nitzschia frigida, N. promare, Navicula sp. 6, N. pelagica, and Fragilariopsis cylindrus dominated the bottom ice community irrespective of snow depth, although abundances were higher under low snow cover. The arborescent colonial N. frigida, a key species of landfast ice across circumarctic regions, was the most abundant bottom ice algal diatom throughout the entire season. During the post-bloom period, colonial and solitary diatoms declined more rapidly than nanoflagellates, suggesting that nanoflagellates, presumably heterotrophic, were better adapted to melting sea-ice conditions. Our results demonstrated that the availability of nitrate in the surface water limits the accumulation of algal biomass in the bottom horizon of Arctic landfast ice during the vernal growth season.


KEY WORDS: Diatoms · Flagellates · Sea ice · Light · Nutrients · Ice protists · Taxonomic composition · Arctic


Full text in pdf format
Cite this article as: Rózańska M, Gosselin M, Poulin M, Wiktor JM, Michel C (2009) Influence of environmental factors on the development of bottom ice protist communities during the winter–spring transition. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 386:43-59. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps08092

Export citation
Share:    Facebook - - linkedIn

 Previous article Next article