Role of microbial and phytoplanktonic communities in the control of seawater viscosity off East Antarctica (30-80° E)

Seuront, L; Leterme, SC; Seymour, JR; Mitchell, JG; Ashcroft, D; Noble, W; Thomson, PG; Davidson, AT; van den Enden, R; Scott, FJ; Wright, SW; Schapira, M; Chapperon, C; Cribb, N

Role of microbial and phytoplanktonic communities in the control of seawater viscosity off East Antarctica (30-80° E)

Seuront, L Leterme, SC Seymour, JR

Mitchell, JG Ashcroft, D Noble, W Thomson, PG Davidson, AT van den Enden, R Scott, FJ Wright, SW Schapira, M Chapperon, C Cribb, N

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2010, 57 (9-10), pp. 877 - 886
Issue Date:: 2010-05-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Seuront, L	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Leterme, SC	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Seymour, JR https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3745-6541	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Mitchell, JG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Ashcroft, D	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Noble, W	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Thomson, PG	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Davidson, AT	en_US
dc.contributor.author	van den Enden, R	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Scott, FJ	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Wright, SW	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Schapira, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Chapperon, C	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Cribb, N	en_US
dc.date.issued	2010-05-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography, 2010, 57 (9-10), pp. 877 - 886	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0967-0645	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/13186
dc.description.abstract	Despite the long-standing belief that seawater viscosity is driven by temperature and salinity, biologically increased seawater viscosity has repeatedly been reported in relation to phytoplankton exudates in shallow, productive coastal waters. Here, seawater viscosity was investigated in relation to microbial and phytoplanktonic communities off the coast of East Antarctica along latitudinal transects located between 30°E and 80°E in sub-surface waters and at the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). The physical component of seawater viscosity observed along each transects ranged from 1.80 to 1.95 cP, while the actual seawater viscosity ranged from 1.85 to 3.69 cP. This resulted in biologically increased seawater viscosity reaching up to 84.9% in sub-surface waters and 77.6% at the DCM. Significant positive correlations were found between elevated seawater viscosity and (i) bacterial abundance in sub-surface waters and (ii) chlorophyll a concentration and the abundance of flow cytometrically-defined auto- and heterotrophic protists at the DCM. Among the 12 groups and 108 species of protists identified under light microscopy, dinoflagellates and more specifically Alexandrium tamarense and Prorocentrum sp. were the main contributors to the patterns observed for elevated seawater viscosity. Our observations, which generalised the link previously identified between seawater viscosity and phytoplankton composition and standing stock to the Southern Ocean, are the first demonstration of increases in seawater viscosity linked to marine bacterial communities, and suggest that the microbially-increased viscosity might quantitatively be at least as important as the one related to phytoplankton secretion. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	Deep-Sea Research Part II: Topical Studies in Oceanography	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1016/j.dsr2.2008.09.018	en_US
dc.subject.classification	Oceanography	en_US
dc.title	Role of microbial and phytoplanktonic communities in the control of seawater viscosity off East Antarctica (30-80° E)	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	9-10	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	57	en_US
utslib.for	0602 Ecology	en_US
utslib.for	0402 Geochemistry	en_US
utslib.for	0405 Oceanography	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Science
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - C3 - Climate Change Cluster
utslib.copyright.status	closed_access
pubs.issue	9-10	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	57	en_US

Abstract:

Despite the long-standing belief that seawater viscosity is driven by temperature and salinity, biologically increased seawater viscosity has repeatedly been reported in relation to phytoplankton exudates in shallow, productive coastal waters. Here, seawater viscosity was investigated in relation to microbial and phytoplanktonic communities off the coast of East Antarctica along latitudinal transects located between 30°E and 80°E in sub-surface waters and at the deep chlorophyll maximum (DCM). The physical component of seawater viscosity observed along each transects ranged from 1.80 to 1.95 cP, while the actual seawater viscosity ranged from 1.85 to 3.69 cP. This resulted in biologically increased seawater viscosity reaching up to 84.9% in sub-surface waters and 77.6% at the DCM. Significant positive correlations were found between elevated seawater viscosity and (i) bacterial abundance in sub-surface waters and (ii) chlorophyll a concentration and the abundance of flow cytometrically-defined auto- and heterotrophic protists at the DCM. Among the 12 groups and 108 species of protists identified under light microscopy, dinoflagellates and more specifically Alexandrium tamarense and Prorocentrum sp. were the main contributors to the patterns observed for elevated seawater viscosity. Our observations, which generalised the link previously identified between seawater viscosity and phytoplankton composition and standing stock to the Southern Ocean, are the first demonstration of increases in seawater viscosity linked to marine bacterial communities, and suggest that the microbially-increased viscosity might quantitatively be at least as important as the one related to phytoplankton secretion. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/13186