The fate of primary production in Antarctic sea ice: the role of metazoan grazers.

• Other Authors: AADC (owner), AADC, DATA OFFICER (distributor), AADC, DATA OFFICER (custodian), AU/AADC > Australian Antarctic Data Centre, Australia (hasAssociationWith), Australian Antarctic Data Centre (publisher), Australian Antarctic Division (sponsor), Swadling, K. (originator)
• Format: Dataset
• Language: unknown
• Published: Australian Ocean Data Network
• Subjects: biota; oceans; EARTH SCIENCE > OCEANS > SEA ICE > PACK ICE; SEA ICE; BIOLOGICAL CLASSIFICATION > ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES; ANIMALS/INVERTEBRATES > ARTHROPODS > CRUSTACEANS; PROTISTS > DIATOMS; PLANTS > MICROALGAE > BIOSPHERE > ECOSYSTEMS > AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS > PLANKTON > ZOOPLANKTON; OCEAN CHEMISTRY > PIGMENTS > CHLOROPHYLL; MARINE ECOSYSTEMS > PELAGIC; ECOLOGICAL DYNAMICS > ECOSYSTEM FUNCTIONS > BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES; Antarc*; Antarctic; aurora australis; Mertz Glacier; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://researchdata.edu.au/the-fate-primary-metazoan-grazers/2819712

Progress Code: completed Statement: See the download file for more information. Crustaceans are an important component of the Antarctic marine ecosystem. Large numbers live in or close to the sea-ice cover, using it as a refuge from predation and a source of food. However, the impact of these animals on algae that grows in the sea ice is unknown. This study is examining the diets and grazing rates of crustaceans in the Antarctic sea-ice ecosystem. These results will aid our understanding of the fate of algal production in sea-ice and will enable the construction of realistic carbon budgets for this ecosystem. This project was commenced in July 2002. A five-week voyage was undertaken on the RV Aurora Australis in October and November 2002, in the vicinity of the Mertz Glacier. Pack ice cores and sub-ice water samples were collected from 8 locations, with 3 to 5 samples of each type collected per site. The cores were sectioned in the field, melted and treated for further analysis. All samples were either preserved or frozen, depending on future requirements, and returned to Australia. Sea ice cores were processed for a range of analyses including microscopy, lipid class and fatty acid determination and stable isotope analysis. A physical description of the pack ice environment (ice type, ice thickness, snow cover, temperature profiles, salinity profiles) was also compiled. A second sampling of the pack ice occurred in Sept-Oct 2003. To date, the salinity and temperature profiles of the pack ice cores have been described and a database compiled of the physical description of the region. A large number of samples (10 sites; 5 ice/water/animal samples per site) was collected and analysis has begun of stable isotopic signatures, fatty acids, chlorophyll a and species identifications. Crustaceans have been sorted under the microscope and initial descriptions of gut contents begun. The third successful sampling trip was to the fast ice surrounding Davis Station during the 2003/04 summer. Two sites were sampled ...