Antarctic coastal microalgal primary production and photosyn

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TitleAntarctic coastal microalgal primary production and photosynthesisAbstractPrimary production in coastal Antarctica is primarily contributed from three sources: sea ice algae, phytoplankton, and microphytobenthos. Compared to other eastern Antarctic sites, the sea ice microalgal biomass at Casey Station, in spring 2005 was relatively low, 3.84 ± 1.67 to 21.6 ± 13.3 mg chl-a m-2 but productive, 103-163 mg C m-2 day-1. The photosynthetic parameters, Fv/Fm and rETRmax, imply a community well-acclimated to the light climate of the benthic, water column, and sea ice habitats. Phytoplankton biomass was greatest in late spring (11.1 ± 0.920 μg chl-a l-1), which probably reflects input from the overlying sea ice. Lower biomass and depressed Fv/Fm values later in the season were probably due to nutrient limitation. Benthic microalgal biomass was consistently between 200 and 400 mg chl-a m-2 and production increased through into late summer (204 mg C m-2 day-1). After the sea ice broke out, the marine environment supported a small phytoplankton biomass and a large benthic microalgal biomass. Compared with previous studies, Fv/Fm values were relatively low but there was no evidence of photoinhibition. When sea ice was present, primary production of benthic microalgae was either very low or there was a net draw down of oxygen. The benthic microalgal community made a larger contribution to total primary production than the phytoplankton or sea ice algae at water depth less than approximately 5 m. © 2012 Springer-Verlag.AcknowledgementsAndrew McMinn and Peter Ralph acknowledge support from an Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Grant. Logistic support was provided by the Australian Antarctic Division.

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1st AuthorMcMinn, A.AuthorMcMinn, A.Ashworth, C.Bhagooli, R.Martin, A.Salleh, S.Ralph, P.Ryan, K.Year2012JournalMarine BiologyVolume159Number12Pages2827-2837DOI10.1007/s00227-012-2044-0URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....97ee060d8cec5800c887c7a95Keywordsbiomasscoastal zoneice algamicroalganutrient limitationphotoinhibitionphotosynthesisphytobenthosphytoplanktonprimary productionsea icewater columnwater depth, AntarcticaCasey StationEast Antarctica, algae, rank3

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TypeArticleCitationMcMinn, A., Ashworth, C., Bhagooli, R., Martin, A., Salleh, S., Ralph, P. and Ryan, K. (2012). Antarctic coastal microalgal primary production and photosynthesis. Marine Biology, 159(12): 2827-2837 doi:10.1007/s00227-012-2044-0