The annual planktonic protist community structure in an ice-free high Arctic fjord (Adventfjorden, West Spitsbergen)

Spatial Patterns of Particles and Plankton in the Warming Arctic Fjord (Isfjorden, West Spitsbergen) in Seven Consecutive Mid-Summers (2013–2019)

“…The observed mid-summer protists community structure (Figure 4) was typical for the West Spitsbergen waters (e.g., Piwosz et al, 2009;Hodal et al, 2012;Kubiszyn et al, 2014Kubiszyn et al, , 2017. It was characterized by the domination of nanoplanktonic flagellates (especially Dinophyceae and Cryptophyceae), as well as microplanktonic Ciliophora, which, due to active movement ability and a number of nutrition modes, are well adapted to live in turbid fjord waters.…”

“…The abundances of nano-and microplankton were at a similar level throughout the observational period, except for much higher values of both size fractions recorded in 2013 and 2018. In 2013, it was represented primarily by highly numerous Dinophyceae (mainly Gymnodinium of size 5-20 µm), which constitutes an almost year-round component of the West Spitsbergen plankton (Kubiszyn et al, 2017). Unfortunately, due to the plasticity of the naked (athecate) Gymnodinium cells and the susceptibility to fixation, most of the taxa are usually (also in the presented study) identified only to the genus level in the light microscopy, by what the determination of their contribution to the total primary production is largely unknown.…”

“…Since plankton is a key component of the Arctic pelagic food web, pathways and efficiency of energy transfer to the higher trophic levels depend on its structure and dynamics. Despite a few group-specific studies on the fluctuations of either protists or zooplankton (e.g., Gluchowska et al, 2016;Kubiszyn et al, 2017), the nature of the progressing changes in its functioning as an entire planktonic community remains poorly characterized. It is caused by the fact that such investigations require extensive, simultaneous, and interdisciplinary studies on the essential roles which various plankton size fractions play.…”

Pelagic Ecosystem Characteristics Across the Atlantic Water Boundary Current From Rijpfjorden, Svalbard, to the Arctic Ocean During Summer (2010–2014)

“…The low surface Chl a concentrations and a protist community dominated by nanoplanktonic dinoflagellates (gymnodiniales), ciliates and prymnesiophytes are typical for the late summer post-bloom situation in the high-Arctic (Owrid et al, 2000;Piwosz et al, 2009Piwosz et al, , 2014Kubiszyn et al, 2017). During these oligotrophic conditions, the protist plankton is characterized by a regenerating community that efficiently recycles nutrients between small autotrophs and their protozoan grazers.…”

DNA barcoding of Cirripedia larvae reveals new knowledge on their biology in Arctic coastal ecosystems

“…As a result, S. balanoides may appear in the water column at slightly different times than B. balanus. We have to treat our data with caution since we only sampled one site (e.g., Michelsen et al, 2017), but in our study, S. balanoides seemed to narrow their pelagic presence to the peak spring bloom in May when diatoms were abundant (Kubiszyn et al, 2017).…”