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The phytoplankton and sea ice algal communities at the end of winter in McMurdo Sound were dominated by Fragilariopsis sublineata, with Thalassiosira antarctica, Melosira adele, Pinnularia quadreata, Entomoneis kjellmannii and heterotrophic dinoflagellates also present. Sea ice algal biomass at the end of winter was very low, only 0.050 ± 0.019 mg chla m-2 in 2007 and 0.234 ± 0.036 mg chla m-2 in 2008, but this increased to 0.377 ± 0.078 mg chla m-2 by early October in 2007 and to 1.07 ± 0.192 by late September in 2008. Under ice phytoplankton biomass remained consistently below 0.1 lg chla l-1 throughout the measuring period in both years. The photosynthetic parameters Fv/Fm, rETRmax and a document microalgal communities that are mostly healthy and well adapted to their low light under ice environment. Our results also suggest that species such as Fragilariopsis sublineata are well adapted to deal with low winter light levels but are unlikely to survive an increase in irradiance, whereas other taxa, such as Thalassiosira antarctica, will do better in a higher light environment.

Item Type:	Refereed Article
Keywords:	Winter  Sea ice algae  Phytoplankton Antarctica  Photophysiology  Fv/Fm
Research Division:	Earth Sciences
Research Group:	Oceanography
Research Field:	Biological oceanography
Objective Division:	Environmental Policy, Climate Change and Natural Hazards
Objective Group:	Understanding climate change
Objective Field:	Effects of climate change on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic environments (excl. social impacts)
UTAS Author:	McMinn, A (Professor Andrew McMinn)
UTAS Author:	Martin, AR (Dr Andrew Martin)
ID Code:	67961
Year Published:	2010
Web of Science® Times Cited:	40
Deposited By:	IMAS Research and Education Centre
Deposited On:	2011-03-08
Last Modified:	2011-05-10
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