Activity and biomass of small benthic biota in the central Arctic Ocean ...

• Main Authors: Soltwedel, Thomas, Schewe, Ingo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 1998
• Subjects: MultiCorer; ODEN-96; Oden; Atlantic Data Base for Exchange Processes at the Deep Sea Floor ADEPD; Quaternary Environment of the Eurasian North QUEEN; Arctic Ocean
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.738504; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.738504

Sediment samples collected during the expedition “Arctic Ocean '96” with the Swedish ice-breaker ODEN were investigated to estimate for the first time heterotrophic activity and total microbial biomass (size range from bacteria to small metazoans) from the perennially ice-covered central Arctic Ocean. Benthic activities and biomass were evaluated analysing a series of biogenic sediment compounds (i.e. bacterial exoenzymes, total adenylates, DNA, phospholipids, particulate proteins). In contrast to the very time-consuming sorting, enumeration and weight determination, analyses of biochemical sediment parameters may represent a useful method for obtaining rapid information on the ecological situation in a given benthic system. Bacterial cell numbers and biomass were estimated for comparison with biochemically determined biomass data, to evaluate the contribution of the bacterial biomass to the total microbial biomass. It appeared that bacterial biomass made up only 8–31% (average of all stations = 20%) of the ... : Supplement to: Soltwedel, Thomas; Schewe, Ingo (1998): Activity and biomass of the small benthic biota in the Central Arctic Ocean. Polar Biology, 19(1), 52-62 ...