We investigated the fine pigment structure and composition of phytoplankton and benthic cyanobacterial mats in Ward Hunt Lake at the northern limit of High Arctic Canada and the responses of these two communities to in situ nutrient enrichment. The HPLC analyses showed that more than 98% of the total pigment stocks occurred in the benthos. The phytoplankton contained Chrysophyceae, low concentrations of other protists and Cyanobacteria (notably picocyanobacteria), and the accessory pigments chl c 2 , fucoxanthin, diadinoxanthin, violaxanthin, and zeaxanthin. The benthic community contained the accessory pigments chl b, chl c 2 , and a set of carotenoids dominated by glycosidic xanthophylls, characteristic of filamentous cyanobacteria. The black surface layer of the mats was rich in the UV-screening compounds scytonemin, red scytonemin-like, and mycosporine-like amino acids, and the blue-green basal stratum contained high concentrations of light-harvesting pigments. In a first bioassay of the benthic mats, there was no significant photosynthetic or growth response to inorganic carbon or full nutrient enrichment over 15 days. This bioassay was repeated with increased replication and HPLC analysis in a subsequent season, and the results confirmed the lack of significant response to added nutrients. In contrast, the phytoplankton in samples from the overlying water column responded strongly to enrichment, and chl a biomass increased by a factor of 19.2 over 2 weeks. These results underscore the divergent ecophysiology of benthic versus planktonic communities in extreme latitudes and show that cold lake ecosystems can be dominated by benthic phototrophs that are nutrient sufficient despite their ultraoligotrophic overlying waters.

The Ward Hunt Ice Shelf (83 degrees N, 74 degrees W) is the largest remaining section of thick (> 10 m) land-fast sea ice along the northern coastline of Ellesmere Island, Canada. Extensive meltwater lakes and streams occur on the surface of the ice and are colonized by photosynthetic microbial mat communities. This High Arctic cryo-ecosystem is similar in several of its physical, biological and geochemical features to the McMurdo Ice Shelf in Antarctica. The ice-mats in both polar regions are dominated by filamentous cyanobacteria but also contain diatoms, chlorophytes, flagellates, ciliates, nematodes, tardigrades and rotifers. The luxuriant Ward Hunt consortia also contain high concentrations (10(7)-10(8) cm-2) of viruses and heterotrophic bacteria. During periods of extensive ice cover, such as glaciations during the Proterozoic, cryotolerant mats of the type now found in these polar ice shelf ecosystems would have provided refugia for the survival, growth and evolution of a variety of organisms, including multicellular eukaryotes.

La concentration en oxygène dissous en milieu fluvial varie selon un cycle diurne (24 h) qu’il est essentiel de considérer dans l’évaluation de l’état d’oxygénation d’un cours d’eau. En principe, seules des mesures en continu recueillies au cours de cycles de 24 h permettent d’évaluer correctement l’état d’oxygénation d’une rivière, ce que, en pratique, les contraintes logistiques et budgétaires ne permettent pas de réaliser. Le présent article vise à faire la synthèse des connaissances sur les facteurs de contrôle et la modélisation des variations diurnes de la concentration en oxygène dissous en rivière. Parmi les facteurs biologiques et physico-chimiques, les activités autotrophe et hétérotrophe sont les facteurs dominants responsables des variations diurnes de l’oxygène dissous. Certains modèles de qualité de l’eau permettent de modéliser la teneur en oxygène et, dans certains cas, la variation diurne. Toutefois, ces modèles sont souvent complexes, d’utilisation ardue et impliquent la mesure directe sur des cycles de 24 h des variables qui régissent la concentration en oxygène dans le milieu. Une démarche est proposée pour l’élaboration d’un modèle et a été appliquée dans une étude de cas réalisée dans la rivière Saint-Charles (Québec, Canada). Un modèle simple (une fonction sinusoïdale) dont les paramètres ont été corrélés à la température et à la concentration moyenne en nitrate a permis de générer des valeurs simulées d’oxygène dissous très proches des valeurs observées in situ. Un modèle alternatif utilisant des valeurs ponctuelles de température et de concentration de nitrate a donné des résultats équivalents. L’approche proposée constitue donc une alternative simple et pratique à la mesure en continu de l’oxygène et permet une évaluation plus réaliste de l’état réel d’oxygénation d’une rivière que la prise de mesures ponctuelles.In rivers, dissolved oxygen concentrations typically show diel variations with maximum values during daytime and minimum values at night. The diel cycle must be taken into account when assessing the state of oxygenation of a watercourse. However, in water quality monitoring programs, dissolved oxygen concentrations are usually obtained from single measurements taken during daytime. The resulting data do not represent the real overall oxygen levels of a watercourse and thus can lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the oxygen status of a river. Continuous data collected over 24‑hour cycles are required for an accurate oxygen status assessment, but in practice, logistic and budget constraints do not allow such samplings. Modelling can be a convenient alternative to direct measurements. However, the water quality models that take into account the diel cycle of oxygen are generally complex to run. The purpose of this study was to review the information relating to the dynamics and the modelling of the diel variations in dissolved oxygen in rivers and to apply a simple model in a case study involving dissolved oxygen, nutrients, temperature and chlorophyll a data collected over 24‑...

No abstract