Summary
Fifteen oceanographic stations were occupied in the vicinity of Anvers Island, Antarctica, in January of 1985 and 1987. All stations showed high phytoplankton biomass (4.0 to 30 μg chl-a/liter) which was either uniformly distributed in the upper mixed layer or showed a pronounced sub-surface maximum at 4–5 m depth. As phosphate was less than 0.02 μm and nitrate about 2.0 μm in surface waters, it appears that nutrient limitation of phytoplankton growth may be of importance during such blooms. This view is supported by chemical measurements of the particulate material which showed high chl-a/ATP ratios (about 7.7), as well as high POC/ATP ratios (about 700). Microscopical analysis revealed a dominance of large-celled diatoms and the near absence of heterotrophic protozoans. Size fractionation studies showed that the nanoplankton accounted for only 28% of the total phytoplankton biomass. When phytoplankton biomass reaches the levels found at these stations, it appears that the cells are light-limited and hence dark-adapted, which results in the high chl-a/ATP ratios and the low assimilation values (0.49–1.64) obtained in our studies. Under such conditions greater than 50% of the total phytoplankton biomass is found below the 1% light level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Balech E, El-Sayed SZ, Hasle G, Neushul M, Zaneveld JS (1968) Primary productivity and benthic marine algae of the Antarctic and subantarctic. Antarct Map Ser, Folio 10. American Geophysical Society, New York, 12 pp
Biggs DC, Johnson MA, Bidigare RR, Guffy JD, Holm-Hansen O (1982) Shipboard autoanalyzer studies of nutrient chemistry, 0–200 m, in the eastern Scotia Sea during FIBEX. Techn Rep 82–11-T, Dept. of Oceanography, Texas A & M University College Station, Texas, 98 pp
Bodungen B von (1986) Phytoplankton growth and krill grazing during spring in the Bransfield Strait, Antarctica—implications from sediment trap collections. Polar Biol 6:153–160
Bröckel K von (1981) The importance of nanoplankton within the pelagic Antarctic ecosystem. Kieler Meeresforsch 5:61–67
Burkholder PR, Mandelli EF (1965) Carbon assimilation of marine phytoplankton in Antarctica. Proc. Natl Acad Sci (US) 54:437–444
Burkholder PR, Sieburth JM (1961) Phytoplankton and chlorophyll in the Gerlache and Bransfield Straits of Antarctica. Limnol Oceanogr 6:45–52
Capurro LR (1973) USNS Eltanin's 55 Cruises-Scientific Accomplishments, Antarct J US 8:57–61
El-Sayed SZ (1987) Biological production of Antarctic waters: Present paradoxes and emerging paradigms. In: SCAR (ed) Antarct Aquat Biol BIOMASS Sci Ser vol 7. Scott Polar Res Inst, Cambridge, England, pp 1–21
El-Sayed SZ (1988) Productivity of the southern ocean: a closer look. Comp Biochem Physiol B90:489–498
Fay R (1973) Significance of nanoplankton in primary production of the Ross Sea, Antarctica, during the 1972 austral summer. PhD Dissertation, Texas A & M University, College Station, Texas, 184 pp
Hart TJ (1934) On the phytoplankton of the south-west Atlantic and the Bellingshausen Sea, 1929–1931. Discovery Rep. 8:1–286
Hart TJ (1942) Phytoplankton periodicity in Antarctic surface waters. Discovery Rep 21:261–365
Heinbokel JF, Coats DW (1985) Ciliates and nanoplankton in Arthur Harbor, December 1984 and January 1985. Antarct J US 19:135–136
Hewes CD, Holm-Hansen O (1983) A method for recovering nanoplankton from filters for identification with the microscope: The filtertransfer-freeze (FTF) technique. Limnol Oceanogr 28:389–394
Hewes CD, Reid FMH, Holm-Hansen O (1984) The quantitative analysis of nanoplankton: a study of methods. J Plankton Res 6:601–613
Hewes CD, Holm-Hansen O, Sakshaug E (1985) Alternate carbon pathways at lower trophic levels in the Antarctic food web. In: Siegfried WR, Condy PR, Laws RM (eds) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 277–283
Hewes CD, Sakshaug E, Reid FMH, Holm-Hansen O (1988) Microbial autotrophic and heterotrophic eucaryotes in Antarctic waters: Relationships between biomass and chlorophyll, adenosine triphosphate, and particulate organic carbon. Mar Ecol Prog Ser (in press)
Holm-Hansen O (1973) Determination of total microbial biomass by measurement of adenosine triphosphate. In: Stevenson LH, Colwell RR (ed) Estuarine microbial ecology. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina, pp 73–89
Holm-Hansen O, Riemann B (1978) Chlorophyll a determination: improvements in methodology. OIKOS 30:438–447
Jennings J, Gordon L, Nelson D (1984) Nutrient depletion indicates high primary productivity in the Weddell Sea. Nature 308:51–54
Karl DM, Craven DC (1980) Effects of alkaline phosphatase activity on nucleotide measurements in aquatic microbial communities. Appl Environ Microbiol 40:549–561
Karl DM, Holm-Hansen O (1978) Methodology and measurement of adenylate energy charge ratios in environmental samples. Mar Biol 48:185–197
Kiefer DA, Kremer JN (1981) Origins of vertical patterns of phytoplankton and nutrients in the temperate, open ocean: a stratigraphic hypothesis. Deep-Sea Res A 28:1087–1105
Krebs WN (1983) Ecology of neritic marine diatoms, Arthur Harbor, Antarctica. Micropaleontology 29:267–297
Mandelli EF, Burkholder PR (1966) Primary productivity in the Gerlache and Bransfield Straits of Antarctica. J Mar Res 24:15–27
Marr JWS (1962) The natural history and geography of the Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba Dana). Discovery Rep 32:33–464
Martin JH, Fitzwater SE (1988) Iron deficiency limits phytoplankton growth in the north-east Pacific subarctic. Nature 331:341–343
Nelson DM, Smith WO Jr, Gordon LI, Huber BA (1987) Spring distributions of density, nutrients, and phytoplankton biomass in the ice edge zone of the Weddell-Scotia Sea. J Geophys Res 92:7181–7190
Neori A, Holm-Hansen O (1982) Effect of temperature on rate of photosynthesis in Antarctic phytoplankton. Polar Biol 1:33–38
Paden CA, Hewes CD, Neori A, Holm-Hansen O, Kiefer DA, Sakshaug E (1981) Phytoplankton studies in the Scotia Sea Antarct J US 16:163–164
Sakshaug E, Holm-Hansen O (1977) Chemical composition of Skeletonema Costatum (Grev.) Cleve and Pavlova (Monochrysis) Lutheri (Droop) Green as a Function of nitrate-, phosphate-, and iron-limited growth. J Exp Mar Biol Ecol 29:1–34
Sakshaug E, Holm-Hansen O (1986) Photoadaptation in Antarctic phytoplankton: variations in growth rate, chemical composition and P versus I curves. J Plankton Res 8:459–473
Sharp JH (1974) Improved analysis for ‘particulate” organic carbon and nitrogen from seawater. Limnol Oceanogr 19:984–989
Smith WO Jr, Nelson DM (1985) Phytoplankton biomass near a receding ice edge in the Ross Sea. In: Siegfried WR, Condy PR, Laws RM (eds) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 70–77
Solórzano L (1969) Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol Oceanogr 14:799–801
Spies A (1987) Growth rates of Antarctic marine phytoplankton in the Weddell Sea. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 41:267–274
Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1972) A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Bull Fish Res Board Can 167:311 pp
Tilzer MM, Bodungen B von, Smetacek V (1985) Light-dependence of phytoplankton photosynthesis in the Antarctic Ocean: Implications for regulating productivity. In: Siefried WR, Condy PR, Laws RM (eds) Antarctic nutrient cycles and food webs. Springer, Berlin, pp. 60–69
Uribe E (1985) Chlorophyll “a” distribution in the Bransfield Strait during 1984 southern summer. Ser Cient I NACH 33:115–130
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Contribution No. 2154 of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysics
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Holm-Hansen, O., Mitchell, B.G., Hewes, C.D. et al. Phytoplankton blooms in the vicinity of palmer station, Antarctica. Polar Biol 10, 49–57 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238290
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00238290