Being Productive in the Arctic Ocean

1
Being Productive in the Arctic Ocean
2
Where is the Arctic Ocean?
The Artic Ocean is also knowns as the
____________ _____________?
North Pole
3
Some facts

• Smallest of the worlds oceans (14 million km2)
• Widest continental shelf (750 miles)
• Covered almost entirely with ice for 8 months a
  year ? not easily explored
• 3 distinct biological communities
• Sea Ice Realm
• Pelagic Realm
• Benthic Realm

4
Sea Ice Realm

• Includes plants/animals that live on and just
  under the ice
• Only 50 melts in summer
• Sea ice is not solidhas network of tunnels
  (brine channels)
• Inhabited by diatoms, algae, bacteria, viruses,
  and fungi

5
Pelagic Realm

• Organisms that live between the ocean surface and
  the bottom
• Algae grow rapidly here during summer (sun shines
  24 hrs a day)
• Lots of zooplankton (floating animals)
• crustaceans and jellyfish
• Fishes, squids, seals, whales

6
Benthic Realm

• The ocean bottom
• Dead organisms settle here as detritus
• Energy source for
• Sponges, bivalves (oysters), crustaceans
  (lobsters, barnacles), polychaete worms, sea
  anemones, bryozoans, tunicates and ascidians (sea
  squirts)

bryozoan
Sea squirt
7
Research

• Very little research has been done on the sea
  ice, pelagic, and benthic realms in the deepest
  parts of the Arctic.

8
Primary Productivity

• What is it?
• The transfer of chemical or solar energy to
  biomass
• Whats this process called?
• Photosynthesis!

Algae bloom. June, 2006, Ireland
9
Photosynthesis and Limiting Factors

• How does it work?
• Water carbon dioxide light sugar oxygen
• Whats the formula? Can you write it out?
• 6H2O 6CO2 light energy C6H12O6 6O2
• What else is required?
• Photosynthetic plants (chlorophyll)
• In the Arctic Ocean, most photosynthesis takes
  place in phytoplankton (microscopic floating
  algae)
• Plant material, light, and nutrients can limit
  the amount of photosynthesis
• We dont know which of them limit PP in the
  Arctic

10
Algae are the base

• All three realms ( sea ice, pelagic, benthic) are
  coupled.
• Algae are the base of the food chain for this
  entire environment
• Photosynthesis can be limited. What are those
  limiting factors?
• Plant material, light, and nutrients

Arctic ice algae
You will be examining 10 different data sets
taken at 10 different times in the year.
11
The meaning of each set of cards

• Ice Cover describes the percent of sea surface
  that is covered with ice
• PAR amount of photosynthesis active radiation
  (sunlight that is usable for photosynthesis)
  available as a percentage of the maximum
  radiation that occurs during the year.
• Chlorophyll a amount of chlorophyll a (which is
  a measure of the amount of photosynthetically-capa
  ble plant material present) in the surface of the
  seawater.
• Nitrate the amount of nitrogen-containing
  nutrients present
• Primary Productivity the amount of organic
  matter that has been produced through
  photosynthesis at the sea surface.

12
The Data and Your Interpretation

1. Each group will read aloud to the class their
   data for Day 1. Everyone else needs to to record
   this data.
2. Within your group, discuss the results
3. As a class, we will discuss results
4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the next 4 days
5. For days 6-10, after collecting data from the
   class, you will write down your OWN
   interpretation of the data WITHOUT sharing
6. Discuss ALL the results as a class
7. Each student write down individual summaries of
   factors that limit primary productivity in the
   Arctic Ocean.