Ice Algal Contributions to Pelagic Production
Virginia Selz, Kevin R Arrigo, Kate E Lowry and Kate M Lewis, Stanford University, Earth System Science, Stanford, CA, United States
Abstract:
Recent modeling studies suggest that the western Antarctic Peninsula sea ice supports high concentrations of ice algae throughout the seasonal ice zone; however, in situ data are scarce. While sea ice algae thrive in their frozen habitat, little is known of their transition to phytoplankton in the water column during or after ice melt. We conducted ship-board incubation competition experiments, simulated ice melt, and tracked the physiology and taxonomic composition of ice algae and phytoplankton over time under high and low light levels to address the question: Do sea ice algae post-melt contribute to pelagic production under varying mixed layer depth scenarios? Results will explore the viability of ice algae post ice melt and identify biological or environmental features that impede or enhance this viability. Combined, these experiments will potentially yield insight into the advantages or disadvantages the ice versus the water column confers to post-melt ice algae and phytoplankton, respectively.
