Monitoring a changing Arctic: Recent advancements in the study of sea ice microbial communities

Campbell, Karley; Matero, Ilkka; Bellas, Christopher M.; Turpin-Jelfs, Thomas; Anhaus, Philipp; Graeve, Martín; Fripiat, François; Tranter, Martyn; Landy, Jack; Sánchez‐Baracaldo, Patricia; Leu, Eva; Katlein, Christian; Mundy, Christopher John; Rysgaard, Søren; Tedesco, Letizia; Haas, Christian; Nicolaus, Marcel

doi:10.1007/s13280-021-01658-z

Cited by 18 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 61 publications

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“…stellata , which are known to dominate sympagic communities at the bottom of annual pack ice in Terra Nova Bay [ 10 ]. The presence of these phototrophic organisms, even in the upper layer of the pack ice, was not unexpected, since many pennate forms of sea ice algae are able to move through the brine network by releasing sticky extracellular polymeric substances [ 46 ].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wintertime Simulations Induce Changes in the Structure, Diversity and Function of Antarctic Sea Ice-Associated Microbial Communities

Cono¹,

Smedile²,

Crisafi³

et al. 2022

Microorganisms

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Antarctic sea-ice is exposed to a wide range of environmental conditions during its annual existence; however, there is very little information describing the change in sea-ice-associated microbial communities (SIMCOs) during the changing seasons. It is well known that during the solar seasons, SIMCOs play an important role in the polar carbon-cycle, by increasing the total photosynthetic primary production of the South Ocean and participating in the remineralization of phosphates and nitrogen. What remains poorly understood is the dynamic of SIMCO populations and their ecological contribution to carbon and nutrient cycling throughout the entire annual life of Antarctic sea-ice, especially in winter. Sea ice at this time of the year is an extreme environment, characterized by complete darkness (which stops photosynthesis), extremely low temperatures in its upper horizons (down to −45 °C) and high salinity (up to 150–250 psu) in its brine inclusions, where SIMCOs thrive. Without a permanent station, wintering expeditions in Antarctica are technically difficult; therefore, in this study, the process of autumn freezing was modelled under laboratory conditions, and the resulting ‘young ice’ was further incubated in cold and darkness for one month. The ice formation experiment was primarily designed to reproduce two critical conditions: (i) total darkness, causing the photosynthesis to cease, and (ii) the presence of a large amount of algae-derived organic matter. As expected, in the absence of photosynthesis, the activity of aerobic heterotrophs quickly created micro-oxic conditions, which caused the emergence of new players, namely facultative anaerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Following this finding, we can state that Antarctic pack-ice and its surrounding ambient (under-ice seawater and platelet ice) are likely to be very dynamic and can quickly respond to environmental changes caused by the seasonal fluctuations. Given the size of Antarctic pack-ice, even in complete darkness and cessation of photosynthesis, its ecosystem appears to remain active, continuing to participate in global carbon-and-sulfur cycling under harsh conditions.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wintertime Simulations Induce Changes in the Structure, Diversity and Function of Antarctic Sea Ice-Associated Microbial Communities

Cono¹,

Smedile²,

Crisafi³

et al. 2022

Microorganisms

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“…Largely, ice algae are reported to sustain a low primary production in the Arctic, but large variations have been observed between regions, ice types, and habitats (Hegseth, 1992;Gosselin et al, 1997;Assmy et al, 2013;Glud et al, 2014;Arrigo, 2017;Lund-Hansen et al, 2018;Campbell et al, 2022). Low productivity of ice algal and aggregate communities is often associated with snow and ice cover and consequently often is light-limited (Woelfel et al, 2010;Leu et al, 2015;Hancke et al, 2018;Lund-Hansen et al, 2020b;Lund-Hansen et al, 2020a).…”

Section: Primary Production and Carbon Turnovermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More recently, the central Arctic primary production and net carbon fixation rates have been suggested to range from 1 to 25 g C m -2 year -1 comprising phytoplankton and sympagic ice algae productivity in and underneath the sea ice (Boetius et al, 2013). The contribution of ice algae is, however, not well constrained ranging from 0 to 80% (Boetius et al, 2013) and showing large variability (Campbell et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Highly Productive Ice Algal Mats in Arctic Melt Ponds: Primary Production and Carbon Turnover

2022

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Arctic summer sea ice extent is decreasing and thinning, forming melt ponds that cover more than 50% of the sea ice area during the peak of the melting season. Despite of this, ice algal communities in melt ponds are understudied and so are their contribution to the Arctic Ocean primary production and carbon turnover. While melt ponds have been considered as low productive, recent studies suggest that accumulated ice algal potentially facilitate high and yet overlooked rates of carbon turnover. Here we report on ice algal communities forming dense mats not previously described, collected from melt ponds in the northern Barents Sea in July. We document on distinct layered and brown colored mats with high carbon assimilation and net primary production rates compared to ice algal communities and aggregates, in fact comparable to benthic microalgae at temperate tidal flats. Rates of gross and net primary production, as well as community respiration rates were obtained from oxygen micro profiling, and carbon assimilation calculations were supported by 14C incubations, pigment analysis and light microscopy examinations. The melt pond algal mats consisted of distinct colored layers and differed from aggregates with a consisted layered structure. We accordingly propose the term melt pond algal mats, and further speculate that these dense ice algal mats may provide an important yet overlooked source of organic carbon in the Arctic food-web. A foodweb component likely very sensitive to climate driven changes in the Arctic Ocean and pan-Arctic seas.

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“…Changing light regimes clearly impact Arctic sea ice microbial assemblages. Campbell et al (2022) highlight the best practices for documenting sea ice microbial communities and how they are being impacted by climate change. In particular, they emphasise the potential for studies that use molecular tools, optical and photometric approaches, and model simulations to address the challenges of investigating Arctic microbial communities in order to create an accurate understanding of the current conditions, which provides a baseline for future change.…”

Section: Arctic Ocean Ecosystems Changementioning

confidence: 99%

A changing Arctic Ocean

Thomas

Arévalo‐Martínez

Crocket

et al. 2021

Ambio

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Monitoring a changing Arctic: Recent advancements in the study of sea ice microbial communities

Cited by 18 publications

References 61 publications

Wintertime Simulations Induce Changes in the Structure, Diversity and Function of Antarctic Sea Ice-Associated Microbial Communities

Wintertime Simulations Induce Changes in the Structure, Diversity and Function of Antarctic Sea Ice-Associated Microbial Communities

Highly Productive Ice Algal Mats in Arctic Melt Ponds: Primary Production and Carbon Turnover

A changing Arctic Ocean

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