Sediment, water and biomass characteristics along gradients in Kongsfjorden, Svalbard

DOI

In contrast to numerous studies on the biomass of marine microphytobenthos from temperate coastal ecosystems, little is known from polar regions. Therefore, microphytobenthos biomass was measured at several coastal sites in Arctic Kongsfjorden (Spitsbergen) during the polar summer (June-August 2006). On sandy sediments, chla varied between 8 and 200 mg/m**2 and was related to water depth, current/wave exposure and geographical location. Biomass was rather independent of abiotic parameters such as sediment properties, salinity, temperature or light availability. At three stations, sediments at water depths of 3-4, 10, 15, 20 and 30 m were investigated to evaluate the effect of light availability on microalgae. Significant differences in distribution patterns of biomass in relation to deeper waters >10 m were found. The productive periods were not as distinct as phytoplankton blooms. Only at 3-4 m water depth at all three stations were two- to threefold increases of biomass measured during the investigation period. Hydrodynamic conditions seemed to be the driving force for differences in sediment colonisation by benthic microalgae. In spite of the extreme Arctic environmental conditions for algal growth, microphytobenthos biomass was comparable to marine temperate waters.

Supplement to: Woelfel, Jana; Schumann, Rhena; Leopold, Peter; Wiencke, Christian; Karsten, Ulf (2009): Microphytobenthic biomass along gradients of physical conditions in Arctic Kongsfjorden, Svalbard. Botanica Marina, 52(6), 573-583

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.860043
Related Identifier https://doi.org/10.1515/BOT.2009.075
Metadata Access https://ws.pangaea.de/oai/provider?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=datacite4&identifier=oai:pangaea.de:doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.860043
Provenance
Creator Woelfel, Jana; Schumann, Rhena; Leopold, Peter; Wiencke, Christian; Karsten, Ulf ORCID logo
Publisher PANGAEA
Publication Year 2009
Funding Reference German Research Foundation https://doi.org/10.13039/501100001659 Crossref Funder ID 5472008 https://gepris.dfg.de/gepris/projekt/5472008 Priority Programme 1158 Antarctic Research with Comparable Investigations in Arctic Sea Ice Areas
Rights Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
OpenAccess true
Representation
Language English
Resource Type Supplementary Publication Series of Datasets; Collection
Format application/zip
Size 3 datasets
Discipline Earth System Research
Spatial Coverage (11.854W, 78.897S, 12.198E, 78.972N)
Temporal Coverage Begin 2006-05-01T00:00:00Z
Temporal Coverage End 2006-08-31T00:00:00Z