Physiochemical properties influencing biomass abundance and primary production in Lake Hoare, Antarctica

• Main Authors: Herbei, Radu, Berry Lyons, W., Laybourn-Parry, Johanna, Gardner, Christopher, Priscu, John C., McKnight, Diane M.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: McMurdo Dry Valleys; Taylor Valley; Hoare; Lake Hoare; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304380009008618

The perennially ice-covered, closed basin lakes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys respond rapidly to environmental changes, especially climate. For the past 15 years, the McMurdo Dry Valleys Long-Term Ecological Research (MCM-LTER) program has monitored the physical, chemical and biological properties of the lakes in Taylor Valley. In order to better assess the physiochemical controls on the biological process within one of these lakes (Lake Hoare), we have used vertical profile data to estimate depth-dependent correlations between various lake properties. Our analyses reveal the following results. Primary production rates (PPR) are strongly correlated to light (PAR) at 12–15m and to soluble reactive phosphorus (SRP) at 8–22m. Chlorophyll-a (CHL) is also positively correlated to PAR at 14m and greater depths, and SRP from 15m and greater. This preliminary statistical analysis supports previous observations that both PAR and SRP play significant roles in driving plant growth in Lake Hoare. The lack of a strong relationship between bacterial production (BP) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an intriguing result of the analysis. Lake Hoare; MCM-LTER; Bayesian methods; Correlation analysis; Gaussian Markov random fields;