First phytoplankton community assessment of the Kong Håkon VII Hav, Southern Ocean, during austral autumn

Kauko, Hanna M.; Assmy, Philipp; Peeken, Ilka; Różańska-Pluta, Magdalena; Wiktor, Józef M.; Bratbak, Gunnar; Singh, Asmita; Ryan-Keogh, Thomas J.; Moreau, Sebastien

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5449-2022

Articles | Volume 19, issue 23

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5449-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

The Weddell Sea and the ocean off Dronning Maud Land: unique...

https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5449-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 23

Research article

|

05 Dec 2022

Research article |

| 05 Dec 2022

First phytoplankton community assessment of the Kong Håkon VII Hav, Southern Ocean, during austral autumn

Hanna M. Kauko, Philipp Assmy, Ilka Peeken, Magdalena Różańska-Pluta, Józef M. Wiktor, Gunnar Bratbak, Asmita Singh, Thomas J. Ryan-Keogh, and Sebastien Moreau

Data sets

Southern Ocean Ecosystem cruise 2019 biogeochemistry Moreau, S., Kauko, H. M., Ryan-Keogh, T., Singh, A., and Bratbak, G. https://doi.org/10.21334/npolar.2021.28fbddd2

Southern Ocean Ecosystem cruise 2019 phytoplankton taxonomy and abundance Kauko, H. M., Moreau, S., Rózańska, M., and Wiktor, J. M. https://doi.org/10.21334/npolar.2022.283e500c

Short summary

This article studies phytoplankton (microscopic plants in the ocean capable of photosynthesis) in Kong Håkon VII Hav in the Southern Ocean. Different species play different roles in the ecosystem, and it is therefore important to assess the species composition. We observed that phytoplankton blooms in this area are formed by large diatoms with strong silica armors, which can lead to high silica (and sometimes carbon) export to depth and be important prey for krill.