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Spring Picophytoplankton of the Kara Sea

  • MARINE BIOLOGY
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Oceanology Aims and scope

Abstract

The abundance, biomass, chlorophyll “a” concentration of picophytoplankton, contribution of picoalgae to total chlorophyll “a” and species composition of phototrophic picoeukaryotes (cells size less than 3 µm) were studied during 83 cruise of R/V Akademik Mstislav Keldysh in the Kara Sea in June 2021. The picophytoplankton abundance varied from 0.25 to 4.91 × 109 cell/m3, biomass–from 0.34 to 2.49 mg С/m3. The minimum abundance and biomass were found in the areas adjacent to the ice edge. The contribution of picophytoplankton to total chlorophyll a concentration in photic layer varied from 3 to 28% with maximum found in the stations free of ice more than 5 days. Picophytoplankton was represented by picoeukaryotes and cyanobacteria. The cyanobacteria contribution was low and varied from 0.2 to 1.8%. The Illumina sequencing of V4 region of 18S rRNA gene revealed that in the surface layer Chaetoceros socialis dominated in picoeukaryotes near ice edge during the diatom bloom. In the ice-free areas for more than 5 days small flagellates, such as Micromonas polaris, Phaeocystis pouchetii and Pyramimonas diskoicola, begin to develop in the surface layer after large phytoplankton descends to the lower horizon of upper mixed layer.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors thank A.A. Polukhin and S.A. Shchuka for providing the materials on the hydrophysical and hydrochemical data.

Funding

The work was carried out as part of Moscow State University’s project (topic nos. 121032300135-7 and AAAA-A17-117120540067-0) and the Development Program of the Interdisciplinary Scientific and Educational School of Moscow State University “The future of the planet and global environmental changes.” The expeditionary research was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation (targeted funding for sea expeditions).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    T. A. Belevich

  2. Belozersky Institute of Physico-Chemical Biology, Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

    T. A. Belevich & I. A. Milyutina

  3. Shirshov Institute of Oceanology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    A. B. Demidov & M. V. Flint

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  1. T. A. Belevich
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  2. I. A. Milyutina
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Correspondence to T. A. Belevich.

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Belevich, T.A., Milyutina, I.A., Demidov, A.B. et al. Spring Picophytoplankton of the Kara Sea. Oceanology 62, 646–655 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0001437022050022

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