Phytoplankton-bacteria relationship in the Antarctic marine ecosystem

Time series data of phytoplanktonic and bacterial biomass during the ice retreat period at different latitudes in the Weddell Sea and Prydz Bay areas show a distinct delay in the development of bacteria with respect to phy'oplankton. Use of a general ecophysiological model of bacterial growth, along with direct in situ measurements of growth and mortality rates, allowed the simulation of the observed timing of bacterial development. It is suggested that the uncoupling between phytoplanktonic and bacterial development at the earliest stage of the spring ice-edge related algal bloom is not the result of the low temperatures occurring in the Southern Ocean but rather is due to the macromolecular nature of the dissolved organic matter released from phytoplankton.