Greenland Ice Sheet exports labile organic carbon to the Arctic oceans

Runoff from small glacier systems contains dissolved organic carbon (DOC) rich in protein-like, low molecular weight (LMW) compounds, designating glaciers as an important source of bioavailable carbon for downstream heterotrophic activity. Fluxes of DOC and particulate organic carbon (POC) exported from large Greenland catchments, however, remain unquantified, despite the Greenland Ice Sheet (GrIS) being the largest source of global glacial runoff (ca. 400 km3 yr−1). We report high and episodic fluxes of POC and DOC from a large (> 600 km2) GrIS catchment during contrasting melt seasons. POC dominates organic carbon (OC) export (70–89% on average), is sourced from the ice sheet bed, and contains a significant bioreactive component (9% carbohydrates). A major source of the “bioavailable” (free carbohydrate) LMW–DOC fraction is microbial activity on the ice sheet surface, with some further addition of LMW–DOC to meltwaters by biogeochemical processes at the ice sheet bed. The bioavailability of the exported DOC (26–53%) to downstream marine microorganisms is similar to that reported from other glacial watersheds. Annual fluxes of DOC and free carbohydrates during two melt seasons were similar, despite the approximately two-fold difference in runoff fluxes, suggesting production-limited DOC sources. POC fluxes were also insensitive to an increase in seasonal runoff volumes, indicating a supply limitation in suspended sediment in runoff. Scaled to the GrIS, the combined DOC (0.13–0.17 TgC yr−1 (±13 %)) and POC fluxes (mean = 0.36–1.52 TgC yr−1 (±14 %)) are of a similar order of magnitude to a large Arctic river system, and hence may represent an important OC source to the near-coastal North Atlantic, Greenland and Labrador seas

Ace Lake: three decades of research on a meromictic, Antarctic lake

Ace Lake (Vestfold Hills, Antarctica) has been investigated since the 1970s. Its close proximity to Davis Station has allowed year-long, as well as summer only, investigations. Ace Lake is a saline meromictic (permanently stratified) lake with strong physical and chemical gradients. The lake is one of the most studied lakes in continental Antarctica. Here we review the current knowledge of the history, the physical and chemical environment, community structure and functional dynamics of the mixolimnion, littoral benthic algal mats, the lower anoxic monimolimnion and the sediment within the monimolimnion. In common with other continental meromictic Antarctic lakes, Ace Lake possesses a truncated food web dominated by prokaryote and eukaryote microorganisms in the upper aerobic mixolimnion, and an anaerobic prokaryote community in the monimolimnion, where methanogenic Archaea, sulphate-reducing and sulphur-oxidizing bacteria occur. These communities are functional in winter at subzero temperatures, when mixotrophy plays an important role in survival in dominant photosynthetic eukaryotic microorganisms in the mixolimnion. The productivity of Ace Lake is comparable to other saline lakes in the Vestfold Hills, but higher than that seen in the more southerly McMurdo Dry Valley lakes. Finally we identify gaps in the current knowledge and avenues that demand further investigation, including comparisons with analogous lakes in the North Polar region

Heterotrophic bacteria in Antarctic lacustrine and glacial environments

Antarctica has the greatest diversity of lake types on the planet including freshwater, brackish, saline and hypersaline systems, epishelf lakes, ice shelf lakes and lakes and cryoconite holes on glacier surfaces. Beneath the continental ice sheet, there are hundreds of subglacial lakes. These systems are dominated by microbial food webs, with few or no metazoans. They are subject to continuous cold, low annual levels of photosynthetically active radiation and little or no allochthonous nutrient inputs from their catchments. Subglacial lakes function in darkness. Heterotrophic bacteria are a conspicuous and important component of the simple truncated food webs present. Bacterial abundance and production vary between freshwater and saline lakes, the latter being more productive. The bacterioplankton functions throughout the year, even in the darkness of winter when primary production is curtailed. In more extreme glacial habitats, biomass is even lower with low rates of production during the annual melt season. Inter-annual variation appears to be a characteristic of bacterial production in lakes. The factors that control production appear to be phosphorus limitation and grazing by heterotrophic and mixotrophic flagellate protozoa. The evidence suggests high rates of viral infection in bacteria and consequent viral lysis, resulting in significant carbon recycling, which undoubtedly supports bacterial growth in winter. The biodiversity of lacustrine Antarctic heterotrophic bacteria is still relatively poorly researched. However, most of the main phyla are represented and some patterns are beginning to emerge. One of the major problems is that data for heterotrophic bacteria are confined to a few regions served by well-resourced research stations, such as the McMurdo Dry Valleys, the Vestfold Hills and Signy Island. A more holistic multidisciplinary approach is needed to provide a detailed understanding of the functioning, biodiversity and evolution of these communities. This is particularly important as Antarctic lakes are regarded as sentinels of climate change

Annual plankton dynamics in an Antarctic saline lake

Summary 1. The plankton dynamics of Ace Lake, a saline, meromictic basin in the Vestfold Hills, eastern Antarctica was studied between December 1995 and February 1997. 2. The lake supported two distinct plankton communities; an aerobic microbial community in the upper oxygenated mixolimnion and an anaerobic microbial community in the lower anoxic monimolimnion. 3. Phytoplankton development was limited by nitrogen availability. Soluble reactive phosphorus was never limiting. Chlorophyll a concentrations in the mixolimnion ranged between 0.3 and 4.4 μg L−−1 during the study period and a deep chlorophyll maximum persisted throughout the year below the chemo/oxycline. 4. Bacterioplankton abundance showed considerable seasonal variation related to light and substrate availability. Autotrophic bacterial abundance ranged between 0.02 and 8.94 × 108 L−−1 and heterotrophic bacterial abundance between 1.26 and 72.8 × 108 L−−1 throughout the water column. 5. The mixolimnion phytoplankton was dominated by phytoflagellates, in particular Pyramimonas gelidicola. P. gelidicola remained active for most of the year by virtue of its mixotrophic behaviour. Photosynthetic dinoflagellates occurred during the austral summer, but the entire population encysted for the winter. 6. Two communities of heterotrophic flagellates were apparent; a community living in the upper monimolimnion and a community living in the aerobic mixolimnion. Both exhibited different seasonal dynamics. 7. The ciliate community was dominated by the autotroph Mesodinium rubrum. The abundance of M. rubrum peaked in summer. A proportion of the population encysted during winter. Only one other ciliate, Euplotes sp., occurred regularly. 8. Two species of Metazoa occurred in the mixolimnion; a calanoid copepod (Paralabidocera antarctica) and a rotifer (Notholca sp.). However, there was no evidence of grazing pressure on the microbial community. In common with most other Antarctic lakes, Ace Lake appears to be driven by ‘bottom-up’ forces

Seasonal dynamics of the planktonic community in Lake-Druzhby, Princess-Elizabeth-Land, Eastern Antarctica.

1. The temporal abundance and composition of the plankton of a continental Antarctic lake (Lake Druzhby) situated in the Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica was investigated from December 1992 to December 1993. The system was dominated by microbial plankton (cyanobacteria, heterotrophic bacteria and protozoans) with few metazoans. 2. Chlorophyll a concentrations ranged between 0.15 and 1.1 μg l–1 and showed highest levels from late winter to spring. 3. Heterotrophic bacteria ranged between 75 and 250 × 106 l–1 with highest abundances in late winter/spring. Mean bacterial biovolumes showed considerable seasonal variation (0.05–0.31 μm3). Largest biovolumes occurred in summer and this was the time of highest community biomass. 4. Heterotrophic nanoflagellates reached highest abundances in late summer (maximum 14 × 105 l–1). Their mean biovolume also exhibited considerable seasonal variation, ranging between 1.77 and 27.0 μm3, with largest size resulting in community biomass peaking in early summer. Ciliated protozoa were poorly represented and sparse. Phototrophic nanoflagellates were sparse in this lake; instead the phototrophic plankton was dominated by a small rod-shaped cyanobacterium which constituted the largest carbon pool in the system. It was common throughout the year, its biomass peaking in autumn. Its presence is discussed in relation to lake morphometry and light climate. 5. Heterotrophic flagellate grazing rates ranged from 6.78 bacteria cell–1 day–1 at 2 °C to 11.8 bacteria cell–1 day–1 at 4 °C. They remove around 2% of the bacterial carbon pool per day during summer and winter. 6. Nutrient levels were low and recorded in pulses. Dissolved and particulate organic carbon were also low, usually less than 3 mg l–1 and 600 μg l–1, respectively. The carbon pools were derived from autochthonous sources. This lake system is driven by bottom-up forces and lacks top-down control, which fits into the picture currently seen for continental Antarctic lakes

The biology and evolution of Antarctic saline lakes in relation to salinity and trophy

Five brackish to hypersaline lakes (Highway, Ace, Pendent, Williams and Rookery) in the Vestfold Hills, eastern Antarctica were investigated during the austral summer of 1999/2000. The aims were to characterise the functional dynamics of the plankton and gain an understanding of how the different environments in the lakes have led to the evolution of different communities. The plankton was dominated by microorganisms and differed across the salinity spectrum in relation to trophy, age and the presence of meromixis. However, some elements of the plankton were common to all of the lakes, e.g. the mixtrophic ciliate, Mesodinium ruhrum, which reached abundances of 2.7 x 10(5) l(-1) and spanned a salinity gradient of 4-63parts per thousand. Marine dinoflagellate species also occurred in all of the lakes, often at high abundances in Highway Lake, Pendent Lake and Lake Williams. During December (midsummer), primary production showed an increase along the salinity gradient from Highway Lake to Lake Williams; however, it was low in hyper-nutrified Rookery Lake because of the turbidity of the waters. Bacterial production followed the same trend and was extremely high in Rookery Lake (327 mug l(-1) h(-1) in January). The lakes possessed a marine microbial plankton that has become very simplified through time, and now contains a small number of highly successful species, which were pre-adapted to surviving in extreme Antarctic lakes

Data from: Polar lakes may act as ecological islands to aquatic protists

A fundamental question in ecology is whether microorganisms follow the same patterns as multicellular organisms when it comes to population structure and levels of genetic diversity. Enormous population sizes, predominately asexual reproduction, and presumably high dispersal due to small body size could have profound implications on their genetic diversity and population structure. Here, we have analyzed the population genetic structure in a lake-dwelling microbial eukaryote (dinoflagellate) and tested the hypothesis that there is population genetic differentiation among nearby lake subpopulations. This dinoflagellate occurs in the marine-derived saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, which are ice-covered most of the year. Clonal strains were isolated from four different lakes, and were genotyped using AFLP (Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism). Our results show high genetic differentiation among lake populations despite their close geographical proximity (< 9 km). Moreover, genotype diversity was high within populations. Gene flow in this system is clearly limited, either due to physical or biological barriers. Our results discard the null hypothesis that there is free gene flow among protist lake populations. Instead, limnetic protist populations may differentiate genetically, and lakes act as ecological islands even on the microbial scale

Polar lakes may act as ecological islands to aquatic protists

10 pages, 3 figures, 3 tables, data accessibility AFLP input files: DRYAD entry https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.87js01tvA fundamental question in ecology is whether microorganisms follow the same patterns as multicellular organisms when it comes to population structure and levels of genetic diversity. Enormous population sizes, predominately asexual reproduction and presumably high dispersal because of small body size could have profound implications on their genetic diversity and population structure. Here, we have analysed the population genetic structure in a lake-dwelling microbial eukaryote (dinoflagellate) and tested the hypothesis that there is population genetic differentiation among nearby lake subpopulations. This dinoflagellate occurs in the marine-derived saline lakes of the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica, which are ice-covered most of the year. Clonal strains were isolated from four different lakes and were genotyped using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Our results show high genetic differentiation among lake populations despite their close geographic proximity (<9 km). Moreover, genotype diversity was high within populations. Gene flow in this system is clearly limited, either because of physical or biological barriers. Our results discard the null hypothesis that there is free gene flow among protist lake populations. Instead, limnetic protist populations may differentiate genetically, and lakes act as ecological islands even on the microbial scale. © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.This project was supported by the Swedish Research Council Grant 90532401 to K.R. and an Australian Antarctic Research Assessment Committee grant (AREC 3022). R.L. was financially supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship grant PIEF-GA-2009-235365Peer Reviewe