No abstract

As the global climate changes, the higher latitudes are seen to be warming significantly faster. It is likely that the Arctic biome will experience considerable shifts in ice melt season length, leading to changes in photoirradiance and in the freshwater inputs to the marine environment. The exchange of nutrients between Arctic surface and deep waters and their cycling throughout the water column is driven by seasonal change. The impacts, however, of the current global climate transition period on the biodiversity of the Arctic Ocean and its activity are not yet known. To determine seasonal variation in the microbial communities in the deep water column, samples were collected from a profile (1-1000 m depth) in the waters around the Svalbard archipelago throughout an annual cycle encompassing both the polar night and day. High-throughput sequencing of 16S rRNA gene amplicons was used to monitor prokaryote diversity. In epipelagic surface waters (<200 m depth), seasonal diversity varied significantly, with light and the corresponding annual phytoplankton bloom pattern being the primary drivers of change during the late spring and summer months. In the permanently dark mesopelagic ocean depths (>200 m), seasonality subsequently had much less effect on community composition. In summer, phytoplankton-associated Gammaproteobacteria and Flavobacteriia dominated surface waters, whilst in low light conditions (surface waters in winter months and deeper waters all year round), the Thaumarchaeota and Chloroflexi-type SAR202 predominated. Alpha-diversity generally increased in epipelagic waters as seasonal light availability decreased; OTU richness also consistently increased down through the water column, with the deepest darkest waters containing the greatest diversity. Beta-diversity analyses confirmed that seasonality and depth also primarily drove community composition. The relative abundance of the eleven predominant taxa showed significant changes in surface waters in summer months and varied with season depending on the phytoplankton bloom stage; corresponding populations in deeper waters however, remained relatively unchanged. Given the significance of the annual phytoplankton bloom pattern on prokaryote diversity in Arctic waters, any changes to bloom dynamics resulting from accelerated global warming will likely have major impacts on surface marine microbial communities, those impacts inevitably trickling down into deeper waters.

Increasing temperatures, with pronounced effects at high latitudes, have raised questions about potential changes in species composition, as well as possible increased importance of small-celled phytoplankton in marine systems. In this study, we mapped out one of the smallest and globally most widespread primary producers, the picocyanobacterium Synechococcus, within the Atlantic inflow to the Arctic Ocean. In contrast to the general understanding that Synechococcus is almost absent in polar oceans due to low temperatures, we encountered high abundances (up to 21,000 cells mL −1) at 79 • N, and documented their presence as far north as 82.5 • N. Covering an annual cycle in 2014, we found that during autumn and winter, Synechococcus was often more abundant than picoeukaryotes, which usually dominate the picophytoplankton communities in the Arctic. Synechococcus community composition shifted from a quite high genetic diversity during the spring bloom to a clear dominance of two specific operational taxonomic units (OTUs) in autumn and winter. We observed abundances higher than 1000 cells mL −1 in water colder than 2 • C at seven distinct stations and size-fractionation experiments demonstrated a net growth of Synechococcus at 2 • C in the absence of nano-sized grazers at certain periods of the year. Phylogenetic analysis of petB sequences demonstrated that these high latitude Synechococcus group within the previously described cold-adapted clades I and IV, but also contributed to unveil novel genetic diversity, especially within clade I.

No abstract

Temporal dynamics of the microbial food web in the Barents Sea and adjacent water masses in the European Arctic are to a large extent unknown. Seasonal variation in stocks and production rates of heterotrophic bacteria and phototrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton and nano-Xagellates was investigated in the upper 50 m of the highlatitude Kongsfjorden, Svalbard, during six Weld campaigns between March and December 2006. Heterotrophic bacteria, picoplankton and nanoXagellates contributed to ecosystem structure and function in all seasons. Activity within the microbial food web peaked during spring bloom in April, parallel to low abundances of mesozooplankton. In the nutrient-limited post-bloom scenario, an eYcient microbial loop, fuelled by dissolved organic carbon from abundant mesozooplankton feeding on phytoplankton and protozooplankton, facilitated maximum integrated primary production rates. A tight microbial food web consisting of heterotrophic bacteria and phototrophic and heterotrophic picoplankton and nanoXagellates was found in the stratiWed water masses encountered in July and September. Microbial stocks and rates were low but persistent under winter conditions. Seasonal comparisons of microbial biomass and production revealed that structure and function of the microbial food web were fundamentally diVerent during the spring bloom when compared with other seasons. While the microbial food web was in a regenerative mode most of the time, during the spring bloom, a microbial transfer mode represented a trophic link for organic carbon in time and space. The microbial food web's ability to Wll diVerent functional roles in periods dominated by new and regenerated production may enhance the ecological Xexibility of pelagic ecosystems in the present era of climate change.