Closely linked sea ice-pelagic coupling in the Amundsen Gulf revealed by the sea ice diatom biomarker IP25

• Published in: Journal of Plankton Research
• Main Authors: Brown, Thomas A., Belt, Simon T.
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2012
• Subjects: Article; Arctic; Canada; Amundsen Gulf; Sea ice; Zooplankton
• Online Access: http://plankt.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/short/fbs045v1; https://doi.org/10.1093/plankt/fbs045

The sea ice diatom biomarker IP 25 has been detected and quantified in bulk zooplankton obtained from the Amundsen Gulf (Canada) in 2008. This study represents the first example of the detection of this biomarker in the pelagic food web. Concentrations of IP 25 ranged from ∼5 to 15 ng g−1 dry weight with peak values occurring broadly at the same time as those found for this biomarker in sea ice samples determined previously from the same region; a 25–30 day lag between the sea ice bloom and zooplankton IP 25 profiles is interpreted in terms of a predator–prey relationship. IP 25 concentrations in zooplankton declined towards the end of the spring sea ice algal bloom and during the main period of ice melt. At this point, concentrations of n -C 21:6 , a common biomarker of general marine diatoms, increased substantially in the zooplankton, indicative of a switch in feeding patterns. This detection of IP 25 in one of the first trophic levels of the Arctic marine ecosystem has potentially important implications for the investigation of polar food webs and the impacts that changes to sea ice conditions will have on these.