Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2brh9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T05:58:46.598Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Nano- and Microplankton Dynamics during the Spring Phaeocystis Sp. Bloom in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

Diane K. Stoecker
Affiliation:
Horn Point Environmental Laboratory, PO Box 775, Cambridge, MD 21613, USA
Mary Putt
Affiliation:
100 Rose Drive, Port Matilda, PA 16870, USA
Tiffany Moisan
Affiliation:
Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of CaliforniaSan Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093–0218, USA

Extract

The seasonal development of the microbial food web in eastern McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, was investigated during and immediately after the 1990–1991 bloom of Phaeocystis sp. (Prymnesiophyceae: Prymnesiales). From 23 November to 7 December, which was before the appearance of macroscopic colonies of Phaeocystis, both phytoplankton and Protozoa were low in abundance. During the Phaeocystis bloom (~10 December to 7 January), phytoplankton biomass was high and was dominated by colonial and singlecelled Phaeocystis, but other phytoplankton taxa, including diatoms and photosynthetic dinoflagellates, co-occurred. Heterotrophic nanoplankton and protozoan microzooplankton increased dramatically in biomass during the bloom. Non-thecate heterotrophic dinoflagellates were the most abundant microzooplankters. There was no evidence for inhibition of the microbial food web by Phaeocystis. By the post-bloom period, macroscopic colonies were rare and phytoplankton biomass had declined markedly. Microzooplankton biomass continued to rise until the end of the sampling period (23 January). Microfaecal pellets (median size range, 10–30 μm) were abundant during the bloom and post-bloom periods. In the post-bloom period, the heterotrophic protistan assemblage became very diverse, with numerous trophic linkages within the microbial food web. The abundance and diversity of the heterotrophic protist assemblage suggests that there was little control of protists by metazoans and that the microbial food web, consisting of bacteria, algae and Protozoa, was poorly coupled to metazoan zooplankton.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Azam, F., Fenchel, T., Field, J.G., Gray, J.S., Meyer-Reil, L.A. & Thingstad, F., 1983. The ecological role of water-column microbes in the sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 10, 257263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barry, J.P. & Dayton, P.K., 1988. Hydrographic patterns in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica, and their relationship to local benthic communities. Polar Biology, 8, 367376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bjørnsen, P.K. & Kuparinen, J., 1991. Growth and herbivory by heterotrophic dinoflagellates in the Southern Ocean, studied by microcosm experiments. Marine Biology, 109, 397405.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boekel, W.H.M. Van, Hansen, F.C., Riegman, R. & Bak, R.P.M., 1992. Lysis-induced decline of a Phaeocystis spring bloom and coupling with the microbial foodweb. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 81, 269276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Børsheim, K.Y. & Bratbak, G., 1987. Cell volume to cell carbon conversion factors for a bacterivorous Monas sp. enriched from seawater. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 36, 171175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buck, K.R., Bolt, P.A. & Garrison, D.L., 1990. Phagotrophy and fecal pellet production by an athecate dinoflagellate in Antarctic sea ice. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 60, 7584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davidson, A.T. & Marchant, H.L., 1992. Protist abundance and carbon concentration during a Phaeocystis-dominated bloom at an Antarctic coastal site. Polar Biology, 12, 387395.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edler, L., 1979. Recommendations for marine biological studies in the Baltic Sea: phytoplankton and chlorophyll. The Baltic Marine Biologists Publication, no. 5, 138.Google Scholar
Elbrächter, M., 1991. Faeces production by dinoflagellates and other small flagellates. Marine Microbial Food Webs, 5, 189204.Google Scholar
Foster, B.A., 1989. Time and depth comparisons of sub-ice zooplankton in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 9, 431435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fryxell, G.A. & Kendrick, G.A., 1988. Austral spring microalgae across the Weddell Sea ice edge: spatial relationships found along a northward transect during AMERIEZ 83. Deep-Sea Research, 35, 120.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garrison, D.L. & Buck, K.R., 1989. Protozooplankton in the Weddell Sea, Antarctica: abundance and distribution in the ice-edge zone. Polar Biology, 9, 341351.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
González, H.E., 1992. Distribution and abundance of minipellets around the Antarctic peninsula. Implications for protistan feeding behaviour. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 90, 223236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Haas, L.W., 1982. Improved epifluorescence microscopy for observing planktonic organisms. Annales de l'Institut Océanographique. Paris, 58(S), 261266.Google Scholar
Knox, G.A., 1990. Primary production and consumption in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica (ed. K.R., Kerry and G., Hempel), pp. 115128. Berlin: Springer Verlag. [Antarctic Ecosystems. Ecological Change and Conservation.]Google Scholar
Leakey, R.J.G., Fenton, N. & Clarke, A., 1994. The annual cycle of planktonic ciliates in nearshore waters at Signy Island, Antarctica. Journal of Plankton Research, 16, 841856.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lessard, E.J., 1991. The trophic role of heterotrophic dinoflagellates in diverse marine environments. Marine Microbial Food Webs, 5, 4958.Google Scholar
Nöthig, E.-M. & Bodungen, B. Von, 1989. Occurrence and vertical flux of faecal pellets of probable protozoan origin in the south-eastern Weddell Sea (Antarctica). Marine Ecology Progress Series, 56, 281289.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Palmisano, A.C., Soohoo, J.B., Soohoo, S., Kottmeier, S.T., Craft, L.L., & Sullivan, C.W., 1986. Photoadaptation in Phaeocystis pouchetti advected beneath annual sea ice in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Journal of Plankton Research, 8, 891906.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putt, M., Micelli, G. & Stoecker, D.K., 1994. Association of bacteria with Phaeocystis sp. in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 105, 179189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Putt, M., Stoecker, D.K. & Alstatt, J., 1991. Bacterivory in McMurdo Sound. 1. Grazing by heterotrophic nanoflagellates. Antarctic Journal of the United States, 26, 139141.Google Scholar
Rousseau, V., Mathot, S. & Lancelot, C., 1990. Calculating carbon biomass of Phaeocystis sp. from microscopic observations. Marine Biology, 107, 305314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rousseau, V., Vaulot, D., Casotti, R., Cariou, V., Lenz, J., Gunkel, J. & Baumann, M., 1994. The life cycle of Phaeocystis (Prymnesiophyceae): evidence and hypotheses. Journal of Marine Systems, 5, 2339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanders, R.W., Caron, D.A. & Berninger, U.-G., 1992. Relationships between bacteria and heterotrophic nanoplankton in marine and fresh waters: an inter-ecosystem comparison. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 86, 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sas, 1990. SAS Procedures Guide, Version 6, 3rd ed. Cary, North Carolina: SAS Institute Inc.Google Scholar
Savage, R.E., 1930. The influence of Phaeocystis on the migration of herring. Fishery Investigations, Series 2. MAFF. London, 12, 514.Google Scholar
Sieburth, J.McN., 1960. Acrylic acid, an ‘antibiotic’ principle in Phaeocystis blooms in Antarctic waters. Science, New York, 132, 676677.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sokal, R.R. & Rohlf, F.J., 1981. Biometry, 2nd ed. San Francisco: W.H. Freeman.Google Scholar
Stoecker, D.K., Buck, K.R. & Putt, M., 1992. Changes in the sea-ice brine community during the spring-summer transition, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. I. Photosynthetic protists. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 84, 265278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoecker, D.K., Buck, K.R. & Putt, M., 1993. Changes in the sea-ice brine community during the spring-summer transition, McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. II. Phagotrophic protists. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 95, 103113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoecker, D.K., Gifford, D.J. & Putt, M., 1994. Preservation of marine planktonic ciliates: losses and cell shrinkage during fixation. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 110, 293299.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoecker, D.K., Sieracki, M.E., Verity, P.G., Michaels, A.E., Haugen, E., Burkill, P.H. & Edwards, E.S., 1994. Nanoplankton and protozoan microzooplankton during the JGOFS North Atlantic Bloom Experiment: 1989 and 1990. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 74, 427–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoecker, D.K., Taniguchi, A. & Michaels, A.E., 1989. Abundance of autotrophic, mixotrophic and heterotrophic planktonic ciliates in shelf and slope waters. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 50, 241254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thingstad, F. & Billen, G., 1994. Microbial degradation of Phaeocystis material in the water column. Journal of Marine Systems, 5, 5565.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verity, P.G. & Langdon, C., 1984. Relationships between lorica volume, carbon, nitrogen, and ATP content of tintinnids in Narragansett Bay. Journal of Plankton Research, 6, 859868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verity, P.G., Robertson, C.Y., Tronzo, C.R., Andrews, M.G., Nelson, J.R. & Sieracki, M.E., 1992. Relationships between cell volume and the carbon and nitrogen content of marine photosynthetic nanoplankton. Limnology and Oceanography, 37, 1434—1446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verity, P.G. & Smayda, T.J., 1989. Nutritional value of Phaeocystis pouchetti (Prymnesiophyceae) and other phytoplankton for Acartia spp. (Copepoda): ingestion, egg production, and growth of nauplii. Marine Biology, 100, 161171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Verity, P.G., Villareal, T.A. & Smayda, T.J., 1988. Ecological investigations of blooms of colonial Phaeocystis pouchetti. II. The role of life-cycle phenomena in bloom termination. Journal of Plankton Research, 10, 749766.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wassmann, P.M., Vernet, M., Mitchell, B.G. & Rey, F., 1990. Mass sedimentation of Phaeocystis pouchetti in the Barents Sea. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 66, 183195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisse, T. & Scheffel-Möser, U., 1990. Growth and grazing loss rates in single-celled Phaeocystis sp. (Prymnesiophyceae). Marine Biology, 106, 153158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar