Short-term dynamics of nutrients, planktonic abundances, and microbial respiratory activity in the Arctic Kongsfjorden (Svalbard, Norway)

Abstract

Atlantification of Arctic ocean is causing a sharp increase in temperature and salinity around Svalbard Islands and in Kongsfjorden. Such phenomenon and the input of sediment-rich glacial meltwater influence salinity, water column turbidity, and light penetration with ecological implications on the microbial features. With the aim to address the temporal variability of the microbial assemblage in relation to environmental variables, a 7-day study was carried out in Kongsfjorden, in late summer 2013. Abiotic (temperature, salinity, nutrients, total suspended matter, particulate inorganic, and organic carbon) and biotic (phyto -, picophyto-, bacterio-, and virioplankton abundance and microbial respiration) parameters were investigated at a station in the inner fjord area, ca. 8.5 km away from the glacier front. Phyto-, picophyto-, and virioplankton showed low abundance. Dinoflagellates and coccolithophorids dominated the phytoplankton community while Synechococcus sp. the picophytoplankton alone, in relation with Atlantic water. Low virus to bacteria ratios were detected, presumably linked to the high sedimentation rates. Interesting variability for picophytoplankton with depth, virioplankton with both time and depth, and respiratory rates with time were found. Moreover, the organic matter turnover was slower on the first sampling day compared to that of the following days. Planktonic abundance depended on the variability of both hydrology (seawater mass inflow) and freshwater runoff from the glacier (relative turbidity degree). Differently, the metabolic rates of respiration appeared to be linked with the particulate carbon pool. Over 1-week study, the diverse microbial dynamics appeared to be conditioned on complex forcing, emphasizing the importance of high-resolution experiment.