Abstract
The planktonic community of 20 melt ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf was investigated to determine taxa abundance and diversity and the controlling environmental variables. Grazing rates were measured using fluorescent beads to examine trophic interactions between ciliates, bacteria and phytoplankton. The melt ponds contained a surprisingly varied planktonic community with relatively high abundance compared with Antarctic continental lakes. There was a clear distinction between small, productive ponds dominated by bactivorous small ciliates, hymenostomes and heterotrophic cryptophytes and the larger, less productive ponds where these taxa were less abundant. The benthic mats of cyanobacteria and diatoms were potentially a source of food for some ciliate species but the majority were bacterivores. The lack of large herbivorous ciliates, the heterotrophic capabilities of cryptophytes and the broad ecological tolerances contributed to a planktonic community dominated by cryptophytes.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Armitage KB, House HB (1962) A limnological reconnaissance in the area of McMurdo Sound, Antarctica. Limnol Oceanogr 7:36–41
Bloem J (1989) Bacterial production, protozoan grazing, and mineralization in stratified Lake Vechten. Limnologisch Instituut, Wekgroepleider
Broady PA (1989) Broadscale patterns in the distribution of aquatic and terrestrial vegetation at three ice-free regions on Ross Island, Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 172:77–95
Burch MD (1988) Annual cycle of phytoplankton in Ace Lake, an ice covered, saline meromictic lake. Hydrobiologia 154:59–75
Cathey DD, Parker BC, Simmons GMJ, Yongue WHJ, Van Brunt MR (1981) The microfauna of algal mats and artificial substrates in Southern Victoria Land lakes of Antarctica. Hydrobiologia 85:3–15
Curds CR (1982) British and other freshwater ciliated protozoa. Part I. Ciliophora: Kinetofragminophora. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Curds CR, Gates MA, Roberts DMCL (1983) British and other freshwater ciliated protozoa. Part II. Ciliophora: Oligohymenophora and Polyhymenophora. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Dillon RD, Bierle DA (1980) Microbiocoenoses in an Antarctic pond. In: Giesy JP (ed) Microcosms in ecological research. US Department of Energy, Washington, DC, pp 446–467
Downes MT (1988) Chemical Methods Manual. Taupo Research Laboratory Report. Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Taupo
Fenchel T (1980) Suspension feeding in ciliated protozoa: feeding rates and their ecological significance. Microb Ecol 6:13–25.
Goldman CR, Mason DT, Wood BJB (1972) Comparative study of the limnology of two small lakes on Ross Island, Antarctica. In: Llano GA (ed) Antarctic terrestrial biology. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 1–50
Hawes I, Howard-Williams C, Pridmore RD (1993) Environmental control of microbial biomass in the ponds of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Arch Hydrobiol 127:271–287
Hawthorn GR, Ellis-Evans JC (1984) Benthic protozoa from mari-time Antarctic freshwater lakes and pools. Br Antarct Surv Bull 62:67–81
Hill MO (1979) DECORANA-A FORTRAN program for detrended correspondence analysis and reciprocal averaging. Ecology and Systematics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Howard-Williams C, Pridmore RD, Broady PA, Vincent WF (1990) Environmental and biological variability in the McMurdo Ice Shelf Ecosystem. In: Kerry K, Hempel G (eds) Ecological change and conservation of antarctic ecosystems. Symposium on Antarctic Biology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York, pp 23–31
Jones JG, Simon BM (1975) An investigation of errors in direct counts of aquatic bacteria by epifluorescence microscopy with reference to a new method of dyeing membrane filters. J Appl Bacteriol 39:317–329
Kellogg DE, Kellogg TB (1987) Diatoms of the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica: implications for sediment and biotic reworking. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 60:77–96
Laybourn-Parry J (1992) Protozoan plankton ecology. Chapman & Hall, London
Laybourn-Parry J, Marchant HJ (1992) The microbial plankton of freshwater lakes in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica. Polar Biol 12:405–410
Laybourn-Parry J, Marchant HJ, Brown P (1991) The plankton of a large oligotrophic freshwater Antarctic lake. J Plankton Res 13:1137–1149
Pace ML (1982) Planktonic ciliates: their distribution, abundance, and relationship to microbial resources in a monomictic lake. Can J Fish Aquat Sci 39:1106–1116
Pace ML, Bailiff MD (1987) Evaluation of a fluorescent microsphere technique for measuring grazing rates of phagotrophic microorganisms. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 40:185–193
Parker BC, Simmons GMJ, Seaburg KG, Cathey DD, Allnutt FCT (1982) Comparative ecology of plankton communities in seven Antarctic oasis lakes. J Plankton Res 4:271–286
Patterson DJ, Hedley S (1992) Free-living freshwater protozoa. A colour guide. Wolfe, Aylesbury
Rublee PA, Gallegos CL (1989) Use of fluorescently labelled algae (FLA) to estimate microzooplankton grazing. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 51:221–227
Salonen K, Jokinen S (1988) Flagellate grazing on bacteria in a small dystrophic lake. Hydrobiologia 161:203–209
Sherr BF, Sherr EB, Fallon RD (1987) Use of monodispersed, fluorescently labelled bacteria to estimate in situ protozoan bacteriovory. Appl Environ Microbiol 53:958–965
Sherr EB, Sherr BF, McDaniel J (1991) Clearance rates of <6 μm fluorescently labelled algae (FLA) by estuarine protozoa: potential grazing impacts of flagellates and ciliates Mar Ecol Prog Ser 69:81–92
Solorzano L (1969) Determination of ammonia in natural waters by the phenolhypochlorite method. Limnol Oceanogr 14:799–801
Spurr B (1975) Limnology of Bird Pond, Ross Island, Antarctica. NZ J Mar Freshwater Res 9:547–562
Suren A (1990) Microfauna associated with algal mats in melt ponds of the Ross Ice Shelf. Polar Biol 10:329–335
Thompson JCJ, Croom JM (1976) Systematics and ecology of ciliated protozoa from King George Island, South Shetland Islands. In: Pawson DL (ed) Biology of the Antarctic Seas VII. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, pp 41–67
Vincent WF, Vincent CL (1982) Response to nutrient enrichment by the plankton of Antarctic coastal lakes and the inshore Ross Sea. Polar Biol 1:159–165
Wilkinson L (1988) SYSTAT. The system for statistics. SYSTAT, Evanston, Ill
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
James, M.R., Pridmore, R.D. & Cummings, V.J. Planktonic communities of melt ponds on the McMurdo Ice Shelf, Antarctica. Polar Biol 15, 555–567 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239647
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00239647