Spatial variation of phytoplankton assemblages and biomass i

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TitleSpatial variation of phytoplankton assemblages and biomass in the New Zealand sector of the Southern Ocean during the late austral summer 2008AbstractUp until now, only the floristic composition of large phytoplankton species has been studied in the Southern Ocean immediately south of New Zealand. To fill the gaps in our knowledge of the Antarctic phytoplankton flora and biomass, in relation to physical and chemical environments, New Zealand's IPY project sampled water between New Zealand and Antarctica and into the Ross Sea in late summer. Near surface phytoplankton samples, collected between New Zealand and Antarctica, and vertical stations, between Scott Island and the Ross Sea ice shelf, allowed us to contrast the flora and biomass in the Ross Sea/Antarctic and Subantarctic waters. Spatially, diatoms were found to be more diverse in both shelf and offshore Antarctic than in Subantarctic waters. Over the Ross Sea shelf, the pennate diatom, Fragilariopsis kerguelensis, and a colonial prymnesiophyte, Phaeocystis antarctica, dominated both numerically and in biomass, contributing to greatest levels of chlorophyll a and cell carbon biomass over the shelf. In both shelf and Antarctic waters, heterotrophic taxa accounted for a greater proportion of total dinoflagellate cell carbon (avg. 95. 4 and 91. 9 %, respectively) than autotrophic, while in the Subantarctic waters, the reverse was true (avg. 48. 6 %). A small number of potentially harmful dinoflagellates, Karenia and Karlodinium spp., were found for the first time in the New Zealand sector of the Southern Ocean. This study represents the first thorough description of the spatial variation of the floristic composition and biomass of phytoplankton in relation to physical and chemical properties, from New Zealand to Antarctica. Copyright 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.AcknowledgementsWe thank Drs Janet Grieve of NIWA, Wellington and Barb Hayden of NIWA, Christchurch for their constructive review of this manuscript. We also thank the officers, crew and scientific staff on RV Tangaroa for their assistance in this voyage. This research was funded by the New Zealand Government under the New Zealand International Polar Year-Census of Antarctic Marine Life Project (Phase 1: So001IPY; Phase 2: IPY2007-01). We gratefully acknowledge project governance by the Ministry of Fisheries Science Team and the Ocean Survey 20/20 CAML Advisory Group (Land Information New Zealand, Ministry of Fisheries, Antarctica New Zealand, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd).

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1st AuthorHoe Chang, F.AuthorHoe Chang, F.Williams, M.Schwarz, J.Hall, J.Maas, E.Stewart, R.Year2013JournalPolar BiologyVolume36Number3Pages391-408DOI10.1007/s00300-012-1270-8URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....52b6362fc5525737be84fa6aeKeywordsalgabiomasschlorophyll adiatomdinoflagellatefloristicsphysicochemical propertyphytoplanktonspatial variation, New ZealandSouthern Ocean, algaeBacillariophytaDinophyceaeFragilariopsis kerguelensisHaptophyceaeKareniaKarlodiniumPhaeocystis antarctica, rank5Author KeywordsAntarctic watersChlorophyll aHarmful algaePhytoplankton cell carbonRoss Sea shelfSouthern Ocean

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TypeArticleCitationHoe Chang, F., Williams, M., Schwarz, J., Hall, J., Maas, E. and Stewart, R. (2013). Spatial variation of phytoplankton assemblages and biomass in the New Zealand sector of the Southern Ocean during the late austral summer 2008. Polar Biology, 36(3): 391-408 IdentifierHoeChang2013Relevancerank5