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Response of phytoplankton Photophysiology to varying environmental conditions in the Sub-Antarctic and Polar Frontal Zone

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-17, 19:34 authored by Cheah, W, Andrew McMinnAndrew McMinn, Griffiths, FB, Karen WestwoodKaren Westwood, Simon WrightSimon Wright, Clementson, LA
Climate-driven changes are expected to alter the hydrography of the Sub-Antarctic Zone (SAZ) and Polar Frontal Zone (PFZ) south of Australia, in which distinct regional environments are believed to be responsible for the differences in phytoplankton biomass in these regions. Here, we report how the dynamic influences of light, iron and temperature, which are responsible for the photophysiological differences between phytoplankton in the SAZ and PFZ, contribute to the biomass differences in these regions. High effective photochemical efficiency of photosystem II (F 0 q/F 0 mw0.4), maximum photosynthesis rate (PB max), light-saturation intensity (Ek), maximum rate of photosynthetic electron transport (1/tPSII), and low photoprotective pigment concentrations observed in the SAZ correspond to high chlorophyll a and iron concentrations. In contrast, phytoplankton in the PFZ exhibits low F 0 q/F 0 m (* 0.2) and high concentrations of photoprotective pigments under low light environment. Strong negative relationships between iron, temperature, and photoprotective pigments demonstrate that cells were producing more photoprotective pigments under low temperature and iron conditions, and are responsible for the low biomass and low productivity measured in the PFZ. As warming and enhanced iron input is expected in this region, this could probably increase phytoplankton photosynthesis in this region. However, complex interactions between the biogeochemical processes (e.g. stratification caused by warming could prevent mixing of nutrients), which control phytoplankton biomass and productivity, remain uncertain.

Funding

Australian Research Council

History

Publication title

PLoS One

Volume

8

Issue

8

Article number

e72165

Number

e72165

Pagination

1-13

ISSN

1932-6203

Department/School

Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies

Publisher

Public Library of Science

Place of publication

USA

Rights statement

Copyright 2013 Cheah et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Biodiversity in Antarctic and Southern Ocean environments

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