Publication

Summary

At the southern-most station along the S-N transect, P7, the pelagic protist community was characterized by both high diversity and abundance. Large diatom species dominated the community, and large dinoflagellates and Phaeocystis pouchetii were also abundant. Moving north and into the ice, the protist community in the water column changed. Smaller organisms and heterotrophic species became more prominent. The larger diatom species became much scarcer but were still present. The community in the ice cores was dominated by pennate diatoms, but dinoflagellates and in particular the heterotrophic species were also abundant. In addition, green flagellates, cryptomonads, chrysophytes, and haptophytes were frequent. The sea-ice showed the highest chlorophyll-a values and had larger cells. In the melt ponds the salinity was low, but variable (2.8-5.7). The chlorophyll-a values there were low, and the species composition varied, and the taxa present were associated with brackish and freshwater as well as a benthic lifestyle.