Responses of diatoms to iron-enrichment (SEEDS) in the western subarctic Pacific, temporal and spatial comparisons

Phytoplankton species composition was analyzed inside and outside of the iron-enriched patch during the SEEDS experiment. Before the iron-enrichment, the phytoplankton community consisted of similar proportions of pico-, nano- and micro-sized phytoplankton, and the micro-phytoplankton was dominated by the pennate diatom Pseudo-nitzschia turgidula. Although all the diatoms, except the nano-sized Fragilariopsis sp., increased during the two weeks of the observation period, the flora in the patch dramatically changed with the increase of phytoplankton biomass to a centric diatom-dominated community. Neritic diatoms, especially Chaetoceros debilis, showed higher growth rates than other diatoms, without any delay in the initiation of growth after the enrichment, and accounted for 90% of the micro-phytoplankton after day 9. In contrast, the oceanic diatoms showed distinct delays in the initiation of growth. We conclude that the responses of the diatoms to the manipulation of iron concentration were different by species, and the fast and intensive response of the phytoplankton to iron-enrichment resulted from the presence of a small amount of neritic diatoms at the study site. The important factors that determine the dominant species in the bloom are the potential growth rates under an iron-replete condition and the growth lag. Abundant species in the patch are widely distributed in the North Pacific and their relative contributions in the Oyashio area and at Stn KNOT are high from spring to summer. However, a characteristic difference of species composition between the SEEDS bloom and natural blooms was the lack of Thalassiosira and Coscinodiscus species in the patch, which usually account for a major part of the phytoplankton community under blooming conditions in the western North Pacific.     

Metridia pacifica in Dabob Bay, Washington: The diatom effect and the discrepancy between high abundance and low egg production rates

Information on life cycle strategies and reproductive parameters of Metridia pacifica is scarce, despite its importance in the zooplankton of the subarctic Pacific. In many regions it occurs in high abundance, but reproductive rates, when reported, are usually low. This discrepancy was studied in Dabob Bay, Washington, USA, in the context of an investigation of the effect of diatom blooms on the reproductive success of copepod grazers.In situ egg production rates of M. pacifica were measured in spring and mid-summer with standard methods (multi-wells) and a new incubation chamber (spawning towers) that separates the spawning female from its eggs and allows the eggs to develop undisturbed. Many females did not produce eggs, possibly due to a high fraction of immature individuals. Egg production rates were variable, but clutch sizes were higher in spawning towers, and estimates of female egg cannibalism revealed that females consume many eggs shortly after their release. Thus, a separation of females and eggs is mandatory for accurate measurements of M. pacifica egg production rates. The maximum clutch sizes recorded in our study were comparable to measurements for other calanoids. However, unviable eggs were a large fraction of those spawned, independent of incubation method, especially in late winter and early spring. In order to assess whether the diatom effect may be responsible for low viability of embryos and nauplii, we also measured in situ grazing. Adult females were omnivorous, but they ingested some diatoms that rank among the strongest anti-mitotic toxin producers known so far. Although M. pacifica’s vertical migration behavior suggests opportunistic feeding on abundant food during their short stay in the phytoplankton-rich surface, they often ignored the food items that contributed most to microplankton carbon concentrations. Thus, their feeding strategy remains ambiguous. Due to severe reproductive failure early in the season, recruitment was impaired in spring, while the population increased, reaching high abundance in mid-summer when reproductive output was low. While advection and interannual variability in bloom conditions might compensate for the losses described here, the paradox of high Metridia abundance versus low reproductive success still requires further investigation, and methodological constraints need to be ruled out in future studies.