| Summary: | Fjord ecosystems are located in high latitude environments across Scandinavia, Alaska, Canada, Chile, New Zealand, and some more northerly Antarctic and Arctic environments (Freeland et al. 1980). Fjords are water bodies with variable-depth estuarine features, are highly stratified, and are influenced by tidal currents (Pickard 1961; Wassmann et al. 2000). One of the largest regions of fjords in the world is the Chilean Patagonia (from 41º to 56ºS), stretching over 241,000 Km2 with islands, channels, estuaries, bays and gulfs formed by glacial erosion over the current quaternary (Borgel 1970; Holtedahl 2006; Aracena et al. 2015). This fjord region is characterized by low concentrations of dissolved inorganic nutrients in surface waters, and high concentrations of nutrients supplied by sub-Antarctic ocean waters (Silva et al. 1997, 1998; Silva 2008; González et al. 2011). Stratification in the water column is a barrier that reduces the export of phytoplanktonic carbon and influences the distribution of some zooplankton groups (Ji et al. 2010; González et al. 2011; Tamelander et al. 2012). Fjords are important sites for carbon cycles and biological productivity (Wetzel 2001; González et al. 2006; Pomeroy 2006), and are sensitive to environmental and climatic changes (Overpeck et al. 1997; Svendsen et al. 2002; Whitehead et al. 2009).
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