Abstract
How the abundant pelagic life of the Southern Ocean survives winter darkness, when the sea is covered by pack ice and phytoplankton production is nearly zero, is poorly understood. Ice-associated ("sympagic") microalgae could serve as a high-quality carbon source during winter, but their significance in the food web is so far unquantified. To better understand the importance of ice algae-produced carbon for the overwintering of Antarctic organisms, we investigated fatty acid (FA) and stable isotope compositions of 10 zooplankton species, and their potential sympagic and pelagic carbon sources. FA-specific carbon stable isotope compositions were used in stable isotope mixing models to quantify the contribution of ice algae-produced carbon (αIce ) to the body carbon of each species. Mean αIce estimates ranged from 4% to 67%, with large variations between species and depending on the FA used for the modelling. Integrating the αIce estimates from all models, the sympagic amphipod Eusirus laticarpus was the most dependent on ice algal carbon (αIce : 54%-67%), and the salp Salpa thompsoni showed the least dependency on ice algal carbon (αIce : 8%-40%). Differences in αIce estimates between FAs associated with short-term vs. long-term lipid pools suggested an increasing importance of ice algal carbon for many species as the winter season progressed. In the abundant winter-active copepod Calanus propinquus, mean αIce reached more than 50% in late winter. The trophic carbon flux from ice algae into this copepod was between 3 and 5mgCm-2 day-1 . This indicates that copepods and other ice-dependent zooplankton species transfer significant amounts of carbon from ice algae into the pelagic system, where it fuels the food web, the biological carbon pump and elemental cycling. Understanding the role of ice algae-produced carbon in these processes will be the key to predictions of the impact of future sea ice decline on Antarctic ecosystem functioning.
Highlights
In the Southern Ocean, ice‐associated (“sympagic”) primary production is assumed to provide carbon to the food web when pelagic productivity is near‐zero during winter (Lizotte, 2001; McMinn et al, 2010; Smith & Sakshaug, 1990)
Apart from sympagic microalgae, in‐ice or under‐ ice fauna, for example protozoans or small copepods, can serve as carbon sources for predatory species dwelling underneath the sea ice (Daly, 1990; Schmidt, Atkinson, Pond, & Ireland, 2014)
We investigate carbon sources of abundant zooplankton species from the sea ice–water interface (= under‐ice community) during winter/onset of spring in the Weddell‐Scotia Confluence Zone based on lipid and stable isotope data
Summary
In the Southern Ocean, ice‐associated (“sympagic”) primary production is assumed to provide carbon to the food web when pelagic productivity is near‐zero during winter (Lizotte, 2001; McMinn et al, 2010; Smith & Sakshaug, 1990). Apart from sympagic microalgae, in‐ice or under‐ ice fauna, for example protozoans or small copepods, can serve as carbon sources for predatory species dwelling underneath the sea ice (Daly, 1990; Schmidt, Atkinson, Pond, & Ireland, 2014) These organisms can transfer both ice algae‐produced and phytoplankton‐ produced carbon from their storage lipids to the pelagic food web. CSIA of marker FAs represents a further development of the less specific analyses of the organic carbon compounds in bulk material, enabling the investigation of individual molecules (Ko, Yang, Kim, & Ju, 2016; Søreide et al, 2013) It has been applied frequently in more recent marine food web studies (Budge et al, 2008; Kohlbach et al, 2016; Kohlbach, Schaafsma, et al, 2017; Wang et al, 2016). We hypothesize that ice algae‐produced carbon gains importance for Antarctic organisms as winter progresses, because in late winter ice algae might represent the only food source abundant enough to balance their energy budget, as lipid reserves decline
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