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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Nikolai Pedentchouk

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Guest Editor

School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
Interests: biogeochemistry; petroleum source rocks; organic pollutants; carbon cycling in the Arctic; food quality and geographic provenancing; isotope tree ring analysis for palaeohydrology

Dr. Maxim Kulikovskiy

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Guest Editor

K.A. Timiryazev Institute of Plant Physiology RAS, IPP RAS, 35 Botanicheskaya St., 127276 Moscow, Russia
Interests: algae; diatoms; biogeography; biotechnology; biogeochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sea ice is a crucial component of the Earth’s climate system. It reflects a significant proportion of the incoming solar radiation and affects the exchange of heat, gases, and water between the polar oceans and the atmosphere. Sea ice hosts a diverse community of primary producers, thus providing a key habitat for one of the most unique ecosystems on Earth. The morphological, genetic, and biochemical characteristics of microbial and microalgal primary producers can provide a wealth of information about their habitat and ambient climatic conditions. The knowledge and understanding of these characteristics are key to interpreting marine micropalaeontological and organic geochemical records in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. This information will also significantly contribute to a better understanding of the mutual feedback among the biological, hydrological, atmospheric, and cryospheric components of the Earth’s polar system.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to gather the most recent developments in the biology and molecular and stable isotope geochemistry of primary producers to develop an integrated approach for linking their biological and biogeochemical characteristics with evolutionary and environmental factors in the polar regions.

We welcome contributions that broadly cover the following topics:
• systematics and ecology of sea-ice microalgae;
• algal biomarkers, with focus on their chemistry, occurrence, and application in paleoclimate studies;
• stable isotopes of biomarkers from diatoms and other microalgae.

Dr. Nikolai Pedentchouk
Dr. Maxim Kulikovskiy
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Sea ice
Diatoms
Biomarkers
Climate change
Paleoclimate
Stable isotopes
Microalgal ecology

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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21 pages, 12051 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Chlorophyll Biomass Time-Series for the Distributed Biological Observatory in the Context of Seasonal Sea Ice Declines in the Pacific Arctic Region

by Lee W. Cooper and Jacqueline M. Grebmeier

Geosciences 2022, 12(8), 307; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences12080307 - 15 Aug 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1633

Abstract

Declines in seasonal sea ice in polar regions have stimulated projections of how primary production has shifted in response to greater light penetration over a longer open water season. Despite the limitations of remotely sensed observations in an often cloudy environment, remote sensing data provide strong indications that surface chlorophyll biomass has increased (since 2000) as sea ice has declined in the Pacific Arctic region. We present here shipboard measurements of chlorophyll-a that have been made annually in July since 2000 from the Distributed Biological Observatory (DBO) stations in the Bering Strait region. This time series as well as shipboard observations made in other months since the late 1980s implicate complexities that intrude on a simple expectation that, as open water periods increase, the production and biomass of phytoplankton will increase predictably. These shipboard observations indicate that there have not been sharp increases in chlorophyll-a, for either maxima observed in the water column or integrated over the whole water column, at the DBO stations over a time-series extending for as long as 20 years coinciding with seasonal sea ice declines. On the other hand, biomass may be increasing in other months: we provide a shipboard confirmation of a fall bloom in October as wind mixing introduced nutrients back into the upper water column. The productive DBO stations may be at a high enough production already that additional enhancements in chlorophyll-a biomass should not be expected, but our time-series record does not exclude the possibility that additional enhanced production may be present in other areas outside the DBO station grid. These findings may also reflect limitations imposed by nutrient cycling and water column structure. The increasing freshwater component of waters flowing through the Bering Strait is likely associated with increased stratification that limits the potential change in biological production associated with decreases in seasonal sea ice persistence. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry of Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice)

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Review

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20 pages, 1324 KiB

Open AccessReview

Biomolecular Composition of Sea Ice Microalgae and Its Influence on Marine Biogeochemical Cycling and Carbon Transfer through Polar Marine Food Webs

by Rebecca Julianne Duncan and Katherina Petrou

Geosciences 2022, 12(1), 38; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/geosciences12010038 - 13 Jan 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 3893

Abstract

Microalgae growing on the underside of sea ice are key primary producers in polar marine environments. Their nutritional status, determined by their macromolecular composition, contributes to the region’s biochemistry and the unique temporal and spatial characteristics of their growth makes them essential for sustaining polar marine food webs. Here, we review the plasticity and taxonomic diversity of sea ice microalgae macromolecular composition, with a focus on how different environmental conditions influence macromolecular production and partitioning within cells and communities. The advantages and disadvantages of methodologies for assessing macromolecular composition are presented, including techniques that provide high throughput, whole macromolecular profile and/or species-specific resolution, which are particularly recommended for future studies. The directions of environmentally driven macromolecular changes are discussed, alongside anticipated consequences on nutrients supplied to the polar marine ecosystem. Given that polar regions are facing accelerated rates of environmental change, it is argued that a climate change signature will become evident in the biochemical composition of sea ice microalgal communities, highlighting the need for further research to understand the synergistic effects of multiple environmental stressors. The importance of sea ice microalgae as primary producers in polar marine ecosystems means that ongoing research into climate-change driven macromolecular phenotyping is critical to understanding the implications for the regions biochemical cycling and carbon transfer. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biogeochemistry of Arctic and Antarctic Sea Ice)

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