Seasonal succession of the microbial community in Arctic sea ice
Seasonal succession of the microbial community in Arctic sea ice
Ice algal production is a critical source of nutrition to higher trophic levels in Arctic marine ecosystems. The inefficiency of the microbial loop in sea ice may contribute to the high levels of primary production that occur there. The complex sea ice microbial community, which includes bacteria, viruses, and protist predators in addition to ice algae, changes significantly over the lifetime of the ice. As the dark winter progresses to spring, the microbial community shifts from survival to bloom as the light returns. During summer thaw, melt ponds form on the surface of the ice and provide a unique freshwater habitat. The shifts in diversity of the microbial communities have not previously been observed using modern molecular identification techniques. Our objective is to use next-generation DNA sequencing to observe the seasonal succession of the microbial community in Arctic sea ice.
Fieldwork site: Field camp, Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada
PI: E. Collins
Project Participants: Dr. Eric Collins (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Anne-Lise Ducluzeau (UAF)