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Abstract: The goal of this study was to explore how net community production (NCP) is influenced by the relationship between primary production and community respiration in the western Arctic Ocean. Plankton NCP and respiration were determined by measuring changes in oxygen in light and dark bottle incubations, respectively. Rates of NCP averaged over shelf, slope and basin waters were positive in summer 2002 (57±191mmolO2 m−2 d−1) and spring 2004 (85±86mmolO2 m−2 d−1) and negative in summer 2004 (−25±176mmolO2 m−2 d−1). Determinations of NCP obtained from bottle incubations were similar to rates inferred from in situ changes in dissolved inorganic carbon. An examination of the spatial variability of primary production and community respiration indicated that respiration is distributed more uniformly than primary production. A spatial offset between photosynthesis and respiration from the shelf to the Arctic basin was present in spring 2004, but was not seen at other times. NCP and the potential for export appear to be dependent on an uncoupling of primary production and community respiration. NCP continued into the summer after the stock of NO3 − had been depleted. Our data suggest that the uniform distribution of respiration relative to primary production is an important factor influencing NCP and the potential for export in the western Arctic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Temperature is thought to have a disproportionate role in controlling bacterial growth in perennially cold waters like the Western Arctic Ocean. One impact of temperature is that bacteria in cold waters may require more dissolved organic material (DOM) in order to approach growth rates observed at higher temperatures (the Wiebe–Pomeroy hypothesis). To explore these issues, this study examined the effect of DOM additions and temperatures shifts on bacterial assemblages during short (2h) and long (up to 10 days) incubations. We found that the temperature response for bacterial assemblages in the Western Arctic was similar to that observed in temperate waters; the Q 10 values for leucine and thymidine incorporation were 3.1±2.6 and 1.9±0.56, respectively, not significantly different from values observed in the equatorial Pacific Ocean. In contrast to what would be predicted from the Wiebe–Pomeroy hypothesis, the impact of DOM additions on leucine incorporation either was the same or greater at higher, not lower temperatures. Increasing the incubation temperature did stimulate leucine incorporation more quickly than did DOM additions, but DOM seems as important as temperature in controlling bacterial growth. Leucine incorporation rates per cell (an index of community growth rates) observed in these experiments varied greatly and approached rates observed in waters warmer by 25°C. These results suggest that the role of temperature in controlling bacterial growth in the Western Arctic is similar to that in low-latitude ocean. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Standing stocks and production rates for phytoplankton and heterotrophic bacteria were examined during four expeditions in the western Arctic Ocean (Chukchi Sea and Canada Basin) in the spring and summer of 2002 and 2004. Rates of primary production (PP) and bacterial production (BP) were higher in the summer than in spring and in shelf waters than in the basin. Most surprisingly, PP was 3-fold higher in 2004 than in 2002; ice-corrected rates were 1581 and 458mgCm−2 d−1, respectively, for the entire region. The difference between years was mainly due to low ice coverage in the summer of 2004. The spatial and temporal variation in PP led to comparable variation in BP. Although temperature explained as much variability in BP as did PP or phytoplankton biomass, there was no relationship between temperature and bacterial growth rates above about 0°C. The average ratio of BP to PP was 0.06 and 0.79 when ice-corrected PP rates were greater than and less than 100mgCm−2 d−1, respectively; the overall average was 0.34. Bacteria accounted for a highly variable fraction of total respiration, from 3% to over 60% with a mean of 25%. Likewise, the fraction of PP consumed by bacterial respiration, when calculated from growth efficiency (average of 6.9%) and BP estimates, varied greatly over time and space (7% to >500%). The apparent uncoupling between respiration and PP has several implications for carbon export and storage in the western Arctic Ocean. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]