Sea-ice microbial communities in the Central Arctic Ocean: Limited responses to short-term pCO(2) perturbations

Authors

Anders Torstensson
Andrew R. Margolin, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
Gordon M. Showalter
Walker O. Smith Jr., Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow
Elizabeth H. Shadwick, Virginia Institute of Marine Science
et al

Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

2021

Journal

Limnology and Oceanography

Volume

9999

First Page

1

Last Page

18

Abstract

The Arctic Ocean is more susceptible to ocean acidification than other marine environments due to its weaker buffering capacity, while its cold surface water with relatively low salinity promotes atmospheric CO 2 uptake. We studied how sea-ice microbial communities in the central Arctic Ocean may be affected by changes in the carbonate system expected as a consequence of ocean acidification. In a series of four experiments during late summer 2018 aboard the icebreaker Oden, we addressed microbial growth, production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and extra- cellular polymeric substances (EPS), photosynthetic activity, and bacterial assemblage structure as sea-ice microbial communities were exposed to elevated partial pressures of CO 2 (pCO 2 ). We incubated intact, bottom ice-core sections and dislodged, under-ice algal aggregates (dominated by Melosira arctica) in separate experiments under approximately 400, 650, 1000, and 2000 micro atm pCO 2 for 10 d under different nutrient regimes. The results indicate that the growth of sea-ice algae and bacteria was unaffected by these higher pCO 2 levels, and concentrations of DOC and EPS were unaffected by a shifted inorganic C/N balance, resulting from the CO 2 enrichment. These central Arctic sea-ice microbial communities thus appear to be largely insensitive to short-term pCO 2 perturbations. Given the natural, seasonally driven fluctuations in the carbonate system of sea ice, its resident microorganisms may be sufficiently tolerant of large variations in pCO 2 and thus less vulnerable than pelagic communities to the impacts of ocean acidification, increasing the ecological importance of sea-ice microorganisms even as the loss of Arctic sea ice continues

DOI

doi: 10.1002/lno.11690

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Recommended Citation

Torstensson, Anders; Margolin, Andrew R.; Showalter, Gordon M.; Smith, Walker O. Jr.; Shadwick, Elizabeth H.; and et al, Sea-ice microbial communities in the Central Arctic Ocean: Limited responses to short-term pCO(2) perturbations (2021). Limnology and Oceanography, 9999, 1-18.

doi: 10.1002/lno.11690