TY - JOUR
T1 - Seasonal and Regional Controls of Phytoplankton Production along a Climate Gradient in South-West Greenland during Ice-Cover and Ice-Free Conditions
AU - Whiteford, E.J.
AU - McGowan, S.
AU - Barry, C.D.
AU - Anderson, N.J.
N1 - CODEN: AAARF
Funding details: Natural Environment Research Council, NERC, NE/G019622/1, NE/G020027/1
Funding text 1: This work was funded by the Natural Environmental Research Council NE/G019622/1. We thank Chris Curtis, Hazel Gunn, Ladislav Hamerlik, Viv Jones, Rachael Lem, Simon Patrick, Nina Reuss, Jasmine Saros, Daniel Scott, Gavin Simpson, Kristin Strock, Gaute Velle, and James Whiteford for their help with fieldwork and sampling. Thank you to Jeff Joensen, Kent Joensen, Rikka Moller, and Basse Vaengtoft for their logistical help in Greenland. Thank you to Stuart Ashby and Barry Kenny for help with shipping limnological equipment and Graham Morris and Teresa Needham for their help in the HPLC lab. We thank two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments on an earlier draft
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Across a small geographic area (<180 km), the region of South-West Greenland covers a natural climate gradient. Variation in temperature and precipitation result in marked differences in limnology at three discrete locations: ice sheet margin, inland, and the coast. Replicate lakes from each location were sampled for physical (temperature, light), chemical (dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, nutrients), and biological (chlorophyll a [Chl a], photosynthetic pigments) variables on three occasions within a 12-month period: July–August 2010, April–May 2011, and June–July 2011 spanning ice cover. Variation in ice phenology was linked to the climate gradient; however, phytoplankton production and community composition did not differ regionally. Large-scale seasonal fluctuations in temperature and nutrient availability were the strongest predictors of phytoplankton production, with a shift from nitrate to phosphorus controlled production between ice-cover and ice-free conditions. Underlying seasonal drivers, variables predicting production were unique to each location—ice sheet margin (soluble reactive phosphorus), inland (temperature), and coast (silicate)—and reflect local differences in nutrient availability. Results from the current study have important consequences when controls over phytoplankton production in Arctic lakes are inferred from a limited number of sites, but up-scaled to represent pan-Arctic trends.
AB - Across a small geographic area (<180 km), the region of South-West Greenland covers a natural climate gradient. Variation in temperature and precipitation result in marked differences in limnology at three discrete locations: ice sheet margin, inland, and the coast. Replicate lakes from each location were sampled for physical (temperature, light), chemical (dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity, nutrients), and biological (chlorophyll a [Chl a], photosynthetic pigments) variables on three occasions within a 12-month period: July–August 2010, April–May 2011, and June–July 2011 spanning ice cover. Variation in ice phenology was linked to the climate gradient; however, phytoplankton production and community composition did not differ regionally. Large-scale seasonal fluctuations in temperature and nutrient availability were the strongest predictors of phytoplankton production, with a shift from nitrate to phosphorus controlled production between ice-cover and ice-free conditions. Underlying seasonal drivers, variables predicting production were unique to each location—ice sheet margin (soluble reactive phosphorus), inland (temperature), and coast (silicate)—and reflect local differences in nutrient availability. Results from the current study have important consequences when controls over phytoplankton production in Arctic lakes are inferred from a limited number of sites, but up-scaled to represent pan-Arctic trends.
U2 - 10.1657/AAAR0015-003
DO - 10.1657/AAAR0015-003
M3 - Article
SN - 1523-0430
VL - 48
SP - 139
EP - 159
JO - Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
JF - Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research
IS - 1
ER -