Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-4rdrl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-25T08:13:07.007Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Microbial population responses in three stratified Antarctic meltwater ponds during the autumn freeze

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 October 2012

Karl Safi ,
Ian Hawes  and
Brian Sorrell
Karl Safi*
Affiliation:
NIWA Ltd, PO Box 11-115, Silverdale Road, Hamilton, New Zealand
Ian Hawes
Affiliation:
Gateway Antarctica, Private Bag 4800, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
Brian Sorrell
Affiliation:
Dept Biological Sciences, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus 3, Denmark
*
karl.safi@niwa.co.nz
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The planktonic microbial communities of three meltwater ponds, located on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, were investigated from the end of January 2008 to early April, during which almost the entire pond volumes froze. The ponds were comprised of an upper mixed layer overlying a salt-stabilized density gradient in which planktonic communities were primarily embedded. Plankton comprised all components of the “microbial loop”, though carnivorous protists were rare. As the ponds froze and light became increasingly limited, it was expected conditions would induce physiological changes altering the functional role of autotrophic and heterotrophic microplankton within the ponds. The results showed that microbial groups responded to the onset of winter by declining in abundance, though an exception was the appearance of filamentous cyanobacteria in the water column in March. As freezing progressed, autotrophs declined more rapidly than heterotrophs and grazing rates and abundances of mixotrophic and heterotrophic organisms increased. Grazing pressure on bacteria and picophytoplankton also increased, in part explaining their decline over time. The results indicate that stressors imposed during freezing select for increasing heterotrophy within the remaining microbial communities, although all components of the food web eventually decline as the final freeze approaches.

Keywords

bacteriaciliatesflagellate grazingfood websplanktonic communities
Type
Biological Sciences
Information
Antarctic Science , Volume 24 , Issue 6 , December 2012 , pp. 571 - 588
Copyright
Copyright © Antarctic Science Ltd 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Barcina, I., Ayo, B., Muela, A., Egea, L.Iriberri, J. 1991. Predation rates of flagellate and ciliated protozoa on bacterioplankton in a river. FEMS Microbiology Ecology, 85, 141–150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bird, D.F.Kalff, J. 1989. Phagotrophic sustenance of a metalimnetic phytoplankton peak. Limnology and Oceanography, 34, 155–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butler, H.G. 1999. Temporal plankton dynamics in a Maritime Antarctic lake. Archiv für Hydrobiologie, 146, 311–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castenholz, R.W. 1992. Species usage, concept and evolution in the cyanobacteria (blue-green algae). Journal of Phycology, 28, 737–745.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dillon, R.D.Bierle, D.A. 1980. Microbiocoenoses in an Antarctic pond. In Giesy, J.P.,ed. Microcosms in ecological research. Washington, DC: Technical Information Center, US Department of Energy, 446–457.Google Scholar
Fenchel, T. 1982. Ecology of heterotrophic microflagellates I. Some important forms and their functional morphology. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 8, 211–223.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Foissner, W., Berger, H.Kohmann, F. 1992. Taxonomische und ökologische Revision der Ciliaten des Saprobiensystems. Band II: Peritrichia, Heterotrichida, Odontostomatida. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt für Wasserwirtschaft, 502 pp.Google Scholar
Foissner, W., Berger, H.Kohmann, F. 1994. Taxonomische und ökologische Revision der Ciliaten des Saprobiensystems. Band III: Hymenostomata, Prostomatida, Nassulida. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt für Wasserwirtschaft, 548 pp.Google Scholar
Foissner, W., Blatterer, H., Berger, H.Kohmann, F. 1991. Taxonomische und ökologische Revision der Ciliaten des Saprobiensystems. Band I: Cyrtophorida, Oligotrichida, Hypotrichida, Colpodea. Munich: Bayerisches Landesamt für Wasserwirtschaft, 478 pp.Google Scholar
Foreman, C.M., Dieser, M., Greenwood, M., Cory, R.M., Laybourn-Parry, J., Lisle, J.T., Jaros, C., Miller, P., Chin, Y-PMcKnight, D.M. 2011. When a habitat freezes solid: microbes over-winter within the ice column of a coastal Antarctic lake. FEMS Microbial Ecology, 76, 401–412.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garneau, M.-E., Roy, S., Lovejoy, C., Gratton, Y.Vincent, W.F. 2008. Seasonal dynamics of bacterial biomass and production in a coastal Arctic ecosystem: Franklin Bay, western Canadian Arctic. Journal of Geophysical Research, 10.1029/2007jc004281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawes, I., Howard-Williams, C.Fountain, A. 2008. Ice-based freshwater ecosystems. In Vincent, W.F.&Laybourn-Parry, J., eds. Polar lakes and rivers - Arctic and Antarctic aquatic ecosystems. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 103–118.Google Scholar
Hawes, I., Howard-Williams, C., Downes, M.T.Schwarz, A-M. 1997. Environment and microbial communities in a tidal lagoon at Bratina Island, McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. In Battaglia, B., Valencia J.&Walton D.W.H., eds. Antarctic communities: species, structure and survival. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 170–177.Google Scholar
Hawes, I., Safi, K., Webster-Brown, J., Sorrell, B.Arscott, D. 2011a. Summer-winter transitions in Antarctic ponds: I. The physical environment. Antarctic Science, 23, 235–242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hawes, I., Safi, K., Webster-Brown, J., Sorrell, B.Arscott, D. 2011b. Summer-winter transitions in Antarctic ponds: II. Biological responses. Antarctic Science, 23, 243–254.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard-Williams, C.Hawes, I. 2007. Ecological processes in Antarctic inland waters: interactions between physical processes and the nitrogen cycle. Antarctic Science, 19, 205–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Howard-Williams, C., Pridmore, R., Downes, M.T.Vincent, W.F. 1989. Microbial biomass, photosynthesis and chlorophyll a related pigments in the ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Antarctic Science, 1, 125–131.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
James, M.R., Hall, J.A.Laybourn-Parry, J. 1998. Protozooplankton and microzooplankton ecology in lakes of the Dry Valleys, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica. Antarctic Research Series, 72, 255–267.Google Scholar
James, M.R., Pridmore, R.D.Cummings, V.J. 1995. Planktonic communities of melt ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Polar Biology, 15, 555–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, H.L.J., Leadbeater, B.S.C.Green, J.C. 1993. Mixotrophy in marine species of Chyrosochromulina (Prymnesiophyceae): ingestion and digestion of a small green flagellate. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom, 73, 283–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jungblut, A.E., Hawes, I., Mountfort, D., Hitzfeld, B., Dietrich, D.R., Burns, B.P.Neilan, B.A. 2005. Diversity within cyanobacterial mat communities in variable salinity meltwater ponds of McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Environmental Microbiology, 7, 519–529.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lebaron, P., Parthuisot, N.Catala, P. 1998. Comparison of blue nucleic acid dyes for flow cytometric enumeration of bacteria in aquatic systems. Applied Environmental Microbiology, 64, 1725–1730.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Laybourn-Parry, J.Marshall, W.A. 2003. Photosynthesis, mixotrophy and microbial plankton dynamics in two high Arctic lakes during summer. Polar Biology, 26, 517–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laybourn-Parry, J., Henshaw, T., Jones, D.J.Quayle, W. 2004. Bacterioplankton production in freshwater Antarctic lakes. Freshwater Biology, 49, 735–744.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Laybourn-Parry, J., James, M.R., McKnight, D.R., Priscu, J., Spaulding, S.A.Shiel, R. 1997. The microbial plankton of Lake Fryxell, southern Victoria Land, Antarctica during the summers of 1992 and 1994. Polar Biology, 17, 54–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, H., Shöne, A., Pinto-Coelho, R.M., Schweizer, A.Weisse, T. 1991. Seasonal succession of ciliates in Lake Constance. Microbial Ecology, 21, 119–138.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Patterson, J.Hedley, S. 1992. Free-living freshwater protozoa: a colour guide. Aylesbury: Wolfe Publishing, 223 pp.Google Scholar
Rae, R., Howard-Williams, C., Hawes, I.Vincent, W.F. 2000. Temperature dependence of photosynthetic recovery from solar damage in Antarctic phytoplankton. In Davidson, W., Howard-Williams, C.&Broady, P., eds. Antarctic ecosystems: models for wider ecological understanding. Christchurch: Caxton Press, 182–189.Google Scholar
Roberts, E.M.Laybourn-Parry, J. 1999. Mixotrophic cryptophytes and their predators in the Dry Valley lakes of Antarctica. Freshwater Biology, 41, 737–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Safi, K.A.Hall, J.A. 1999. Mixotrophic and heterotrophic nanoflagellate grazing in the convergence zone east of New Zealand. Journal of Aquatic Microbial Ecology, 20, 83–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sherr, B.F., Sherr, E.B.Fallon, R.D. 1987. Use of monodispersed, fluorescently labelled bacteria to estimate in situ protozoan bacterivory. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 53, 958–965.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schmidt, S., Moskall, W., De Mora, S.J.D., Howard-Williams, C.Vincent, W.F. 1991. Limnological properties of Antarctic ponds during winter freezing. Antarctic Science, 3, 379–388.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, D.C.Azam, F. 1992. A simple, economical method for measuring bacterial protein synthesis rates in seawater using 3H-leucine. Marine Microbial Food Webs, 6, 107–114.Google Scholar
Sohrin, R., Imazawa, M., Fukuda, H.Suzuki, Y. 2010. Full-depth profiles of prokaryotes, heterotrophic nanoflagellates, and ciliates along a transect from the equatorial to the subarctic central Pacific Ocean. Deep-Sea Research II, 57, 1537–1550.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sorokin, Y.I. 1999. Aquatic microbial ecology. Leiden: Backhuys, 248 pp.Google Scholar
Vincent, W.F. 1981. Production strategies in Antarctic inland waters: phytoplankton eco-physiology in a permanently ice-covered lake. Ecology, 62, 1215–1224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, W.F.James, M.R. 1996. Biodiversity in extreme aquatic environments: lakes, ponds and streams in the Ross Sea sector, Antarctica. Biodiversity Conservation, 5, 1451–1471.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, W.F.Vincent, C.L. 1982. Response to nutrient enrichment by the plankton of Antarctic coastal lakes and the inshore Ross Sea. Polar Biology, 1, 159–165.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vincent, W.F., Whyte, L.G., Lovejoy, C., Greer, C.W., Laurion, I., Suttle, C.A., Corbeil, J.Mueller, D.R. 2009. Arctic microbial ecosystems and impacts of extreme warming during the International Polar Year. Polar Science, 3, 171–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wait, B.R., Webster-Brown, J.G., Brown, K.R., Healy, M.Hawes, I. 2006. Chemistry and stratification of Antarctic meltwater ponds: I. Coastal ponds near Bratina Island, McMurdo Ice Shelf. Antarctic Science, 18, 515–524.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Webster-Brown, J., Hawes, I., Safi, K., Sorrell, B.Wilson, N. 2011. Summer-winter transitions in Antarctic ponds: III. Chemical changes. Antarctic Science, 24, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar