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Ozone depletion and climate change are causing the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) to become increasingly positive, driving stronger winds southward in the Southern Ocean (SO), with likely effects on phytoplankton habitat due to possible changes in ocean mixing, nutrient upwelling, and sea ice characteristics. This study examined the effect of the SAM and 12 other environmental variables on the abundance of siliceous and calcareous phytoplankton in the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) of the SO. A total of 52 surface-water samples were collected during repeat resupply voyages between Hobart, Australia, and Dumont d'Urville, Antarctica, centred around longitude 142 ∘ E, over 11 consecutive austral spring–summer seasons (2002–2012), and spanning 131 d in the spring–summer from 20 October to 28 February. A total of 22 taxa groups, comprised of individual species, groups of species, genera, or higher taxonomic groups, were analysed using CAP analysis (constrained analysis of principal coordinates), cluster analysis, and correlation. Overall, satellite-derived estimates of total chlorophyll and measured depletion of macronutrients both indicated a more positive SAM was associated with greater productivity in the SIZ. The greatest effect of the SAM on phytoplankton communities was the average value of the SAM across 57 d in the previous austral autumn centred around 11 March, which explained 13.3 % of the variance in community composition in the following spring–summer. This autumn SAM index was significantly correlated pair-wise (p<0.05) with the relative abundance of 12 of the 22 taxa groups resolved. A more positive SAM favoured increases in the relative abundance of large Chaetoceros spp. that predominated later in the spring–summer and reductions in small diatom taxa and siliceous and calcareous flagellates that predominated earlier in the spring–summer. Individual species belonging to the abundant Fragilariopsis genera responded differently to the SAM, indicating the importance of species-level observation in detecting SAM-induced changes in phytoplankton communities. The day through the spring–summer on which a sample was collected explained a significant and larger proportion (15.4 %) of the variance in the phytoplankton community composition than the SAM, yet this covariate was a proxy for such environmental factors as ice cover and sea surface temperature, factors that are regarded as drivers of the extreme seasonal variability in phytoplankton communities in Antarctic waters. The impacts of SAM on phytoplankton, which are the pasture of the SO and principal energy source for Antarctic life, would have ramifications for both carbon export and food availability for higher trophic levels in the SIZ of the SO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ozone depletion and climate change are causing the Southern Annular Mode (SAM) to become increasingly positive, driving stronger winds southward in the Southern Ocean (SO), with likely effects on phytoplankton habitat due to changes in ocean mixing, nutrient upwelling, and sea ice. This study examined the effect of the SAM and other environmental variables on the abundance of siliceous and calcareous phytoplankton in the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) of the SO. Samples were collected during repeat transects between Hobart, Australia, and Dumont d'Urville, Antarctica, centred around longitude 142° E, over 11 consecutive austral spring-summers (2002-2012). Twenty-two taxa, comprised of species, genera or higher taxonomic groups, were analysed using CAP analysis, cluster analysis and correlation. The SAM significantly affected phytoplankton community composition, with the greatest influence exerted by a SAM index averaged across 57 days centred on 11th March in the preceding autumn, explaining 13.3% of the variance of taxa composition during the following spring-summer, and showing correlation with the relative abundance of 12 of the 22 taxa resolved. The day through the spring-summer that a sample was collected exerted the greatest influence on phytoplankton community structure (15.4% of variance explained), reflecting the extreme seasonal variation in the physical environment in the SIZ that drives phytoplankton community succession. The response of different species of Fragilariopsis spp. and Chaetoceros spp. differed over the spring-summer and with the SAM, indicating the importance of species-level observation in detecting subtle changes in pelagic ecosystems. This study indicated that higher SAM favoured increases in the relative-abundance of large Chaetoceros spp. that predominated later in the spring-summer and reductions in small diatom taxa and siliceous and calcareous flagellates that predominated earlier in the spring-summer. Such changes in the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton, the pasture of the SO and principal energy source for Antarctic life, may alter both carbon sequestration and composition of higher tropic levels of the SIZ region of the SO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]