Variability of Primary Production in an Antarctic Marine Ecosystem as Estimated Using a Multi-scale Sampling Strategy1

Abstract

Abstract A major objective of the multidisciplinary Palmer Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) program is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of various components of the Antarctic marine ecosystem—the assemblage of plants, animals, ocean, sea ice, and island components south of the Antarctic Convergence. Phytoplankton production plays a key role in this polar ecosystem, and factors that regulate production include those that control cell growth (light, temperature, nutrients) and those that control cell accumulation rate and hence population growth (water column stability, advection, grazing, and sinking). Several of these factors are mediated by the annual advance and retreat of sea ice. In this study, we examine the results from nearly a decade (1991–2000) of ecological research in the western Antarctic Peninsula region. We evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of phytoplankton biomass (estimated as chlorophyll-a concentration) and primary production (determined in-situ aboard ship as well...