Bioconditioning of Arctic Waters and Stimulation of Arctic Phytoplankton by Sea Ice Algae: Vulnerability to Increased Light

Arctic sea ice algae produce extracellular organic products, which, as bioconditioners of seawater, may stimulate early summer growth of pelagic, under-sea-ice phytoplankton in low light and low temperature conditions. Sea ice algae are inhibited or decline in numbers if prematurely exposed to high...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ARCTIC
Main Author: Apollonio, Spencer
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: The Arctic Institute of North America 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.14430/arctic70047
Description
Summary:Arctic sea ice algae produce extracellular organic products, which, as bioconditioners of seawater, may stimulate early summer growth of pelagic, under-sea-ice phytoplankton in low light and low temperature conditions. Sea ice algae are inhibited or decline in numbers if prematurely exposed to high light conditions, thereby reducing their ability to produce bioconditioners. As climate change creates an early reduction or removal of snow and sea ice cover, the result may be a decrease in primary phytoplankton production.