Summary
Water samples from coastal lakes and ponds on Ross Island (77°S) and from the adjacent Ross Sea were analyzed to determine nutrient supply relative to the population size of planktonic algae and bacteria. An enrichment test was applied to each water to measure N and P accumulation by the seston as a guide to nutrient demand and deficiency. In all waters, including the sea, the dissolved inorganic N-to-P ratios were low, but inorganic nitrogen was generally present at concentrations that satisfied or exceeded the current growth requirements of the algae. None of the samples responded to added P, and only 3 of the 13 plankton assemblages tested responded positively to nitrogen enrichment. These waters are therefore characterized by an abundance of resources relative to demand. This apparently r-selecting coastal environment contrasts markedly in many ecosystem properties with the inland meromictic lakes of Antarctica.
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Vincent, W.F., Vincent, C.L. Response to nutrient enrichment by the plankton of Antarctic coastal lakes and the inshore Ross Sea. Polar Biol 1, 159–165 (1982). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287002
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287002