Physical, chemical, and biological water column characteristics in June 2015 in Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen) ...

• Main Author: van De Poll, Willem H
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2017
• Subjects: Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; Spitsbergen
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.878242; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.878242

Glacial meltwater discharge in fjords on the west coast of Spitsbergen is increasing due to climate change. The influence of this discharge on phytoplankton nutrient limitation, composition, productivity and photophysiology was investigated in central (M) and inner (G) Kongsfjorden (79°N, 11°40'E). Freshwater influx intensified stratification during June 2015, coinciding with surface nutrient depletion. Surface nutrient concentrations were negatively correlated with stratification strength at station M. Here, nitrate addition assays revealed increasing N limitation of surface phytoplankton during the second half of June, which was followed by a pronounced compositional change within the flagellate-dominated phytoplankton community as dictyochophytes (85% of chl a) were replaced with smaller haptophytes (up to 60% of chlorophyll a) and prasinophytes (20% of chlorophyll a). These changes were less pronounced at station G, where surface phosphate, ammonium and nitrate concentrations were occasionally higher, ... : Supplement to: van De Poll, Willem H; Kulk, Gemma; Rozema, Patrick D; Brussaard, Corina P D; Visser, Ronald J W; Buma, Anita G J (2018): Contrasting glacial meltwater effects on post-bloom phytoplankton on temporal and spatial scales in Kongsfjorden, Spitsbergen. Elementa - Science of the Anthropocene, 6(1), 50 ...