Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Comparison of productivity and phytoplankton in a warm (Kongsfjorden) and a cold (Hornsund) Spitsbergen fjord in mid-summer 2002

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Polar Biology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Kongsfjorden and Hornsund are two glacial fjords without sills on the West Spitsbergen coast. Both sites are under the influence of relatively warm Atlantic-derived water, although Hornsund is more influenced by cold water from the Barents Sea. In this study, we compared the impacts of cold Arctic and warmer Atlantic waters on the pelagic ecosystems of Kongsfjorden and Hornsund. Both fjords were strongly influenced by Atlantic-derived waters during summer (2002). Diatoms were the most substantial contributors to phytoplankton biomass, especially in outer basins of both fjords, whereas the second most important contributors were autotrophic dinoflagellates in Kongsfjorden and nanoflagellates in Hornsund. Total phytoplankton biomass was highest in Hornsund. Primary production rates were an order of magnitude lower in Kongsfjorden than in Hornsund, and increased from inner to outer fjord (from 2.47 to 4.48 mg C m−2 h−1 in Kongsfjorden and from 14.00 to 86.65 mg C m−2 h−1 in Hornsund). Chlorophyll-a concentration was also substantially lower in Kongsfjorden. Zooplankton was dominated by omnivorous species in Kongsfjorden and herbivorous in Hornsund. Observed differences between the fjords may originate from (1) advection of different waters into the fjords; (2) differences in freshwater runoff and turbidity, and (3) timing of the phytoplankton bloom. Climate warming will likely increase the Atlantic water influence, and result in reduced production of diatoms and increase in flagellates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Basedow SJ, Eiane K, Tverberg V, Spindler M (2004) Advection of zooplankton in an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard). Estuar Coast Shelf Sci 60:113–124

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blachowiak-Samolyk K, Kwasniewski S, Dmoch K, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S (2007) Trophic structure of zooplankton in the Fram Strait in spring and autumn 2003. Deep Sea Res II 54:2716–2728

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cottier F, Tverberg V, Inall M, Svendsen H, Nilsen F, Griffiths C (2005) Water mass modification in an Arctic fjord through cross-shelf exchange: the seasonal hydrography of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. J Geophys Res Oceans. doi:10.1029/2004JC002757

  • Digby PSB (1961) The vertical distribution and movements of marine plankton under midnight-sun conditions in Spitsbergen. J Anim Ecol 30:9–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Edler L (1979) Recommendation on methods for marine biological studies in the Baltic Sea. Phytoplankton and chlorophyll. Baltic Mar Biol Publ 5:1–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Eilertsen HC, Taasen JP, Weslawski JM (1989) Phytoplankton studies in the fjords of West Spitsbergen: physical environment and production in spring and summer. J Plankton Res. doi:10.1093/plankt/11.6.1245

  • Gorlich KA, Wńsławski JM, Zajńczkowski M (1987) Suspensions settling effect on macrobenthos biomass distribution in the Hornsund fjord. Spitsbergen Pol Res 5:175–192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harris R, Wiebe P, Lenz J, Skjoldal HR, Huntley M (eds) (2000) Zooplankton methodology manual. Academic Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Hasle GR, Heimdal BR (1998) The net phytoplankton in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, July 1988, with general remarks on species composition of arctic phytoplankton. Polar Res. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1998.tb00257.x

  • Hop H, Pearson T, Hegseth EN, Kovacs KM, Wiencke C, Kwasniewski S, Eiane K, Mehlum F, Gulliksen B, Wlodarska-Kowalczuk M, Lydersen C, Weslawski JM, Cochrane S, Gabrielsen GW, Leakey RGJ, Lønne OJ, Zajaczkowski M, Falk-Petersen S, Kendall M, Wängberg S-Å, Bischof K, Voronkov AY, Kovaltchouk NA, Wiktor J, Poltermann M, di Prisco G, Papucci C, Gerland S (2002) The marine ecosystem of Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Polar Res. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2002.tb00073.x

  • Hop H, Falk–Petersen S, Svendsen H, Kwasniewski S, Pavlov V, Pavlova O, Søreide JE (2006) Physical and biological characteristics of the pelagic system across Fram Strait to Kongsfjorden. Prog Oceanogr 71:182–231

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jeffrey SW, Humphrey GF (1975) New spectrophotometric equations for determining chlorophyll a, b, c1 and c2 in higher plants, algae, and natural phytoplankton. Biochem Physiol Pflanzen 167:191–194

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Keck A, Wiktor J, Hapter R, Nilsen R (1999) Phytoplankton assemblages related to physical gradients in an arctic glacier-fed fjord in summer. ICES J Mar Sci 56:203–214

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kwasniewski S, Hop H, Falk-Petersen S, Pedersen G (2003) Distribution of Calanus species in Kongsfjorden, a glacial fjord in Svalbard. J Plankton Res. doi:10.1093/plankt/25.1.1

  • Matishov G, Makarevich P, Timofeev S, Kuznetsov L, Druzhkov N, Larionov V, Golubev V, Zuyev A, Adrov N, Denisov V, Iliyn G, Kuznetsov A, Denisenko S, Savinov V, Shavikyn A, Smolyar I, Levitus S, O’Brien T, Baranova O (2000) Biological atlas of the Arctic seas 2000: plankton of the Barents and Kara Seas, vol 2. World Data Center for Oceanography, Silver Spring International Ocean Atlas Series, NOAA Atlas NESDIS 39. Silver Spring, Murmansk, 348 pp + CD-R

  • Menden-Deuer S, Lessard EJ (2000) Carbon to volume relationships for dinoflagellates, diatoms, and other protist plankton. Limnol Oceanogr 45:569–579

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Nielsen G, Bresta A-M (1984) Guidelines for the measurements of phytoplankton primary production. Publ Balt Mar Biol 1:1–23

    Google Scholar 

  • Okolodkov YB, Hapter R, Semovski SV (2000) Phytoplankton in Kongsfjorden. Sarsia 85:345–352

    Google Scholar 

  • Palli A, Moore JC, Jania J, Glowacki P (2003) Glacier changes in southern Spitsbergen, Svalbard, 1901–2000. Ann Glaciol 37:219–225

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Strickland JDH, Parsons TR (1972) A practical handbook of seawater analysis. Fish Res Bd Can Bull 167, Ottawa

  • Steen H, Vogedes D, Broms F, Falk-Petersen S, Berge J (2007) Little auks (Alle alle) breeding in a High Arctic fjord system: bimodal foraging strategies as a response to poor food quality? Polar Res. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2007.00022.x

  • Svendsen H, Beszczynska-Möller A, Hagen JO, Lefauconnier B, Tverberg V, Gerland S, Ørbæk JB, Bischof K, Papucci C, Zajaczkowski M, Azzolini R, Bruland O, Wiencke C, Winther J-G, Dallmann W (2002) The physical environment of Kongsfjorden-Krossfjorden, an Arctic fjord system in Svalbard. Polar Res. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.2002.tb00072.x

  • Swerpel S (1985) The Hornsund fiord: water masses. Pol Polar Res 6:475–496

    Google Scholar 

  • Throndsen J (1970) Flagellates from Arctic waters. Nor J Bot 17:49–57

    Google Scholar 

  • Urbański J, Neugebauer E, Spacjer R, Falkowska L (1980) Physico-chemical characteristic of the waters of Hornsund Fjord on south-west Spitsbergen (Svalbard Archipelago) in summer season 1979. Pol Polar Res 1:43–52

    Google Scholar 

  • Utermöhl H (1958) Zur Vervollkommungder quantitativen Phytoplankton Methodik. Mitt Int Ver Theor Angew Limnol 9:1–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkusz W, Kwasniewski S, Dmoch K, Hop H, Zmijewska MI, Bielecka L, Falk-Petersen S, Sicinski J (2004) Charactersistic of the Arctic and Antarctic mesozooplankton in the neritic zone during summer. Pol Polar Res 3–4:275–291

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkusz W (2006) Temporal and spatial variability of zooplankton from two Svalbard fjords: Kongsfjorden and Hornsund. PhD thesis, Institute Oceanology PAS, Sopot, Poland

  • Walkusz W, Kwaśniewski S, Dmoch K, Beszczynska-Möller A (2007) A contribution to the knowledge of Arctic zooplankton diurnal variability (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard). Pol Polar Res 28:43–56

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkusz W, Rolbiecki L (2007) Epibionts (Paracineta) and parasites (Ellobiopsis) on copepods from Spitsbergen (Kongsfjorden area). Oceanologia 49:369–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Walkusz W, Kwasniewski S, Falk-Petersen S, Hop H, Tverberg V, Wieczorek P, Weslawski JM (2008) Seasonal and spatial changes in the zooplankton community in Kongsfjorden. Svalbard Polar Res (in press)

  • Weslawski JM, Jankowski A, Kwaśniewski S, Swerpel S, Ryg M (1991) Summer hydrology and zooplankton in two Svalbard fiords. Pol Polar Res 12:445–460

    Google Scholar 

  • Weslawski JM, Zajaczkowski M, Kwasniewski S, Jezierski J, Moskal W (1988) Seasonality In an Arctic fjord system: Hornsund, Spitsbergen. Polar Res. doi:10.1111/j.1751-8369.1988.tb00596.x

  • Wiktor J (1999) Early spring microplankton development under fast ice covered fjords of Svalbard, Arctic. Oceanologia 41:51–72

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiktor J (2000) Spring microplankton blooms in glacier-fed Arctic fjords. PhD thesis, University of Gdansk (in Polish)

  • Wiktor J, Wojciechowska K (2005) Differences in taxonomic composition of summer phytoplankton in two fjords of West Spitsbergen, Svalbard. Pol Polar Res 26:259–268

    Google Scholar 

  • Willis K, Cottier F, Kwasniewski S, Wold A, Falk-Petersen S (2006) The influence of advection on zooplankton community composition in an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard). J Mar Syst. doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2005.11.013

  • Wlodarska-Kowalczuk M, Weslawski JM, Kotwicki L (1998) Spitsbergen glacial bay macrobenthos—a comparative study. Polar Biol 20:66–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zajaczkowski M (2008) Sediment supply and fluxes in glacial and outwash fjords, Kongsfjorden and Adventfjorden, Svalbard. Pol Polar Res 1:59–72

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology Polish Academy of Sciences, 55 Powstańców Warszawy St., 81-712, Sopot, Poland

    Kasia Piwosz, Wojciech Walkusz, Ryszard Hapter, Piotr Wieczorek & Józef Wiktor

  2. Norwegian Polar Institute, 9296, Tromsø, Norway

    Haakon Hop

Authors
  1. Kasia Piwosz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Wojciech Walkusz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ryszard Hapter
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Piotr Wieczorek
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Haakon Hop
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Józef Wiktor
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Józef Wiktor.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Piwosz, K., Walkusz, W., Hapter, R. et al. Comparison of productivity and phytoplankton in a warm (Kongsfjorden) and a cold (Hornsund) Spitsbergen fjord in mid-summer 2002. Polar Biol 32, 549–559 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0549-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-008-0549-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation