Organic matter from Arctic sea-ice loss alters bacterial community structure and function
Continuing losses of multi-year sea ice (MYI) across the Arctic are causing first-year sea ice (FYI) to dominate the Arctic ice pack. Melting FYI provides a strong seasonal pulse of dissolved organic matter (DOM) into surface waters; however, the biological impact of this DOM input is unknown. Here...
Published in: | Nature Climate Change |
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Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Nature
2019
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Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/49015/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/49015/1/Underwood_et_al_2019.pdf https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.9f1909ba-f74b-4308-9816-08db1e9e6706 https://hdl.handle.net/ |
Summary: | Continuing losses of multi-year sea ice (MYI) across the Arctic are causing first-year sea ice (FYI) to dominate the Arctic ice pack. Melting FYI provides a strong seasonal pulse of dissolved organic matter (DOM) into surface waters; however, the biological impact of this DOM input is unknown. Here we show that DOM additions cause important and contrasting changes in under-ice bacterioplankton abundance, production and species composition. Utilization of DOM was influenced by molecular size, with 10–100 kDa and >100 kDa DOM fractions promoting rapid growth of particular taxa, while uptake of sulfur and nitrogen-rich low molecular weight organic compounds shifted bacterial community composition. These results demonstrate the ecological impacts of DOM released from melting FYI, with wide-ranging consequences for the cycling of organic matter across regions of the Arctic Ocean transitioning from multi-year to seasonal sea ice as the climate continues to warm. |
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