Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord
Snow cover on sea ice is the most important factor controlling light availability for sea ice algae, but it is predicted by climate models to become more variable and stochastic. Here, we document effects of a sudden, complete loss of the entire snow cover on first-year sea ice at Kangerlussuaq Fjor...
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2021
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d03870275a0645dca364845f76d3370a 2023-05-15T16:27:33+02:00 Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord Brian K. Sorrell Ian Hawes Tanja Stratmann Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen 2021-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080814 https://doaj.org/article/d03870275a0645dca364845f76d3370a EN eng MDPI AG https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/9/8/814 https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1312 doi:10.3390/jmse9080814 2077-1312 https://doaj.org/article/d03870275a0645dca364845f76d3370a Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Vol 9, Iss 814, p 814 (2021) ice algae Greenland optics photobiology snow cover stress Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2021 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080814 2022-12-31T13:03:34Z Snow cover on sea ice is the most important factor controlling light availability for sea ice algae, but it is predicted by climate models to become more variable and stochastic. Here, we document effects of a sudden, complete loss of the entire snow cover on first-year sea ice at Kangerlussuaq Fjord, West Greenland, due to a natural Föhn wind event that caused a ca. 17 °C air temperature increase over 36 h. We applied Imaging-PAM fluorometry to examine effects of snow cover on algal distribution and photobiology and observed a rapid decrease in algal biomass associated with loss of the skeletal ice crystal layer on the underside of the ice that had supported most of the visible algae. Furthermore, the remaining algae were photobiologically stressed, as seen in a significant decrease in the dark-acclimated fluorescence yield (Φ PSII_max ) from 0.55 before snow loss to 0.41 after. However, recovery in the dark suggested that non-photosynthetic quenching was successfully dissipating excess energy in the community and that there was little photodamage. An observed decrease in the photosynthetic efficiency α from 0.22 to 0.16 µmol é m −2 s −1 is therefore likely to be due to photoacclimation and the change in community composition. Centric diatoms and flagellates were the main taxa lost in the snow loss event, whereas the sea ice specialist Nitzschia frigida increased in numbers. These observations are similar to those seen in artificial snow-clearing experiments and consistent with snow clearing being a useful approach for investigating the complex interactions between snow cover, irradiance fluctuations, and ice algal performance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Greenland ice algae Kangerlussuaq Sea ice Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Greenland Kangerlussuaq ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 9 8 814 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ice algae Greenland optics photobiology snow cover stress Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
ice algae Greenland optics photobiology snow cover stress Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 Brian K. Sorrell Ian Hawes Tanja Stratmann Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord |
topic_facet |
ice algae Greenland optics photobiology snow cover stress Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering VM1-989 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Snow cover on sea ice is the most important factor controlling light availability for sea ice algae, but it is predicted by climate models to become more variable and stochastic. Here, we document effects of a sudden, complete loss of the entire snow cover on first-year sea ice at Kangerlussuaq Fjord, West Greenland, due to a natural Föhn wind event that caused a ca. 17 °C air temperature increase over 36 h. We applied Imaging-PAM fluorometry to examine effects of snow cover on algal distribution and photobiology and observed a rapid decrease in algal biomass associated with loss of the skeletal ice crystal layer on the underside of the ice that had supported most of the visible algae. Furthermore, the remaining algae were photobiologically stressed, as seen in a significant decrease in the dark-acclimated fluorescence yield (Φ PSII_max ) from 0.55 before snow loss to 0.41 after. However, recovery in the dark suggested that non-photosynthetic quenching was successfully dissipating excess energy in the community and that there was little photodamage. An observed decrease in the photosynthetic efficiency α from 0.22 to 0.16 µmol é m −2 s −1 is therefore likely to be due to photoacclimation and the change in community composition. Centric diatoms and flagellates were the main taxa lost in the snow loss event, whereas the sea ice specialist Nitzschia frigida increased in numbers. These observations are similar to those seen in artificial snow-clearing experiments and consistent with snow clearing being a useful approach for investigating the complex interactions between snow cover, irradiance fluctuations, and ice algal performance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Brian K. Sorrell Ian Hawes Tanja Stratmann Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen |
author_facet |
Brian K. Sorrell Ian Hawes Tanja Stratmann Lars Chresten Lund-Hansen |
author_sort |
Brian K. Sorrell |
title |
Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord |
title_short |
Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord |
title_full |
Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord |
title_fullStr |
Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord |
title_full_unstemmed |
Photobiological Effects on Ice Algae of a Rapid Whole-Fjord Loss of Snow Cover during Spring Growth in Kangerlussuaq, a West Greenland Fjord |
title_sort |
photobiological effects on ice algae of a rapid whole-fjord loss of snow cover during spring growth in kangerlussuaq, a west greenland fjord |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080814 https://doaj.org/article/d03870275a0645dca364845f76d3370a |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-55.633,-55.633,72.633,72.633) |
geographic |
Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
geographic_facet |
Greenland Kangerlussuaq |
genre |
Greenland ice algae Kangerlussuaq Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Greenland ice algae Kangerlussuaq Sea ice |
op_source |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, Vol 9, Iss 814, p 814 (2021) |
op_relation |
https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1312/9/8/814 https://doaj.org/toc/2077-1312 doi:10.3390/jmse9080814 2077-1312 https://doaj.org/article/d03870275a0645dca364845f76d3370a |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080814 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
814 |
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1766016954793984000 |