Supplementary material from "Inter-decadal variability of phytoplankton biomass along the coastal West Antarctic Peninsula" ...

• Main Authors: Kim, Hyewon, Ducklow, Hugh W., Abele, Doris, Barlett, Eduardo M. Ruiz, Buma, Anita G. J., Meredith, Michael P., Rozema, Patrick D., Schofield, Oscar M., Venables, Hugh J., Schloss, Irene R.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: The Royal Society 2018
• Subjects: Adelaide Island; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Anvers; Anvers Island; Carlini Station; King George Island; Palmer Station; Palmer-Station; Potter Cove; Rothera; Rothera Station; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.4054925.v2; https://rs.figshare.com/collections/Supplementary_material_from_Inter-decadal_variability_of_phytoplankton_biomass_along_the_coastal_West_Antarctic_Peninsula_/4054925/2

The West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is a climatically sensitive region where periods of strong warming have caused significant changes in the marine ecosystem and food-web processes. Tight coupling between phytoplankton and higher trophic levels implies that the coastal WAP is a bottom-up controlled system, where changes in phytoplankton dynamics may largely impact other food-web components. Here, we analysed the inter-decadal time series of year-round chlorophyll- a (Chl) collected from three stations along the coastal WAP: Carlini Station at Potter Cove (PC) on King George Island, Palmer Station on Anvers Island and Rothera Station on Adelaide Island. There were trends towards increased phytoplankton biomass at Carlini Station (PC) and Palmer Station, while phytoplankton biomass declined significantly at Rothera Station over the studied period. The impacts of two relevant climate modes to the WAP, the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Southern Annular Mode, on winter and spring phytoplankton biomass ...