Trophic and Microbial Patterns in the Ross Sea Area (Antarctica): Spatial Variability during the Summer Season

In open regions of the Ross Sea, the role of the microbial community in the turnover of organic matter has scarcely been investigated; indeed, very little is known on how microbial distribution and functional diversity respond to environmental conditions and hydrographic structures. During the austr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Marine Science and Engineering
Main Authors: Maurizio Azzaro, Antonietta Specchiulli, Giovanna Maimone, Filippo Azzaro, Angelina Lo Giudice, Maria Papale, Rosabruna La Ferla, Rodolfo Paranhos, Anderson Souza Cabral, Alessandro Ciro Rappazzo, Monia Renzi, Pasquale Castagno, Pierpaolo Falco, Paola Rivaro, Gabriella Caruso
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022
Subjects:
water column
organic matter
optical properties
microbial community abundance and biomass
functional diversity
Ross Sea
Naval architecture. Shipbuilding. Marine engineering
VM1-989
Oceanography
GC1-1581
Austral
Terra Nova Bay
Drygalski
Adare
Cape Adare
Drygalski Ice Tongue
Drygalski Glacier
Antarc*
Antarctica
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse10111666
https://doaj.org/article/e124b656a90848268cba118d8b02aa07
Description
Summary:In open regions of the Ross Sea, the role of the microbial community in the turnover of organic matter has scarcely been investigated; indeed, very little is known on how microbial distribution and functional diversity respond to environmental conditions and hydrographic structures. During the austral summer of 2017, two pelagic areas of the Ross Sea [the Drygalski Ice Tongue and the nearby Terra Nova Bay polynya (A area), and the continental Shelf Break area near Cape Adare (C area)] were studied at selected depths [surface, Deep Chlorophyll Maximum (DCM), Circumpolar Deep Water (CDW), deep waters]. Trophic properties [nutrient concentrations, particulate (POC), dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and its optically significant fraction (CDOM) were measured, together with the main hydrological variables. Microbial community abundance [total prokaryotes, living, dead, and actively respiring fraction, high- and low nucleic acid cells (HNA and LNA), pico- and nano-eukaryotes, culturable heterotrophic bacteria], composition, and metabolism (as whole community and as isolated bacteria) were also assessed. Through a multidisciplinary dataset, this study highlighted the variable response of microbial abundance, diversity, and metabolism of the microbial community to the changing local environmental conditions of the Ross Sea. Different forces, such as organic matter inputs (mostly of detrital nature) released from the Drygalski glacier in the A area, and a coastal-to-offshore gradient in the C area, coexisted within this extreme ecosystem. This resulted in a significant spatial segregation of the edaphic parameters, and of the microbial community distribution and metabolic activity patterns.

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