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Organic matter from Arctic sea-ice loss alters bacterial community structure and function

Nature Climate Change volume 9, pages 170–176 (2019)Cite this article

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Abstract

Continuing losses of multi-year sea ice (MYI) across the Arctic are causing first-year sea ice (FYI) to dominate the Arctic ice pack. Melting FYI provides a strong seasonal pulse of dissolved organic matter (DOM) into surface waters; however, the biological impact of this DOM input is unknown. Here we show that DOM additions cause important and contrasting changes in under-ice bacterioplankton abundance, production and species composition. Utilization of DOM was influenced by molecular size, with 10–100 kDa and >100 kDa DOM fractions promoting rapid growth of particular taxa, while uptake of sulfur and nitrogen-rich low molecular weight organic compounds shifted bacterial community composition. These results demonstrate the ecological impacts of DOM released from melting FYI, with wide-ranging consequences for the cycling of organic matter across regions of the Arctic Ocean transitioning from multi-year to seasonal sea ice as the climate continues to warm.

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Fig. 1: Changes in concentrations of dissolved organic and inorganic components during experiments of Arctic under-ice surface water enriched with three sea-ice-derived organic matter fractions (DOM, LMW and HMW).
Fig. 2: Changes in bacterial cell density and productivity over 9 days (216 h) in Arctic under-ice surface water enriched with three sea-ice-derived organic matter fractions (DOM, LMW and HMW).
Fig. 3: Element ratio (van Krevelen) plots of molecular formulas determined by FT-ICR-MS in control and three organic matter enriched treatments over a 216-h incubation.
Fig. 4: Changes in bacterioplankton taxonomic richness and diversity between under-ice seawater (T0water) and with addition of three sea-ice-derived organic carbon fractions (DOMtot, HMW, LMW) after 216 h incubation.

Data availability

Experimental https://doi.org/10.5526/ERDR-00000072 and FT-ICR-MS data (https://doi.org/10.5526/ERDR-00000084) are available from the University of Essex data repository. Sequence data are archived at the European Bioinformatics institute, http://www.ebi.ac.uk, under accession number PRJEB20754.

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Acknowledgements

G.J.C.U. was funded by grants no. NE/D00681/1 and no. NE/E016251/1 from the UK Natural Environment Research Council. C.M. received financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada (Individual Discovery Grant), the International Governance Strategy (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and the Polar Continental Shelf Program (Natural Resources Canada) for the project Sea Ice BIOTA (Biological Impacts of Trends in the Arctic). G.M. received a Visiting Fellowship in Canadian Government Laboratory from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Council of Canada. C. Burau is acknowledged for performing solid-phase extraction. We thank S. Duerksen, D. Jordan, M. Poulin and A. Reppchen for their help in the field and laboratory. We also appreciate support from the Resolute Bay Hunters and Trappers Association and the logistical support from the Polar Continental Shelf Program in Resolute, Nunavut.

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  1. These authors contributed equally: Graham J. C. Underwood, Christine Michel.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Biological Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, UK

    Graham J. C. Underwood & Alex J. Dumbrell

  2. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Freshwater Institute, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

    Christine Michel, Guillaume Meisterhans & Andrea Niemi

  3. Institut des Sciences de la Mer de Rimouski, Université du Québec à Rimouski, Rimouski, Quebec, Canada

    Claude Belzile

  4. Bruker Daltonik GmbH, Bremen, Germany

    Matthias Witt

  5. Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Boris P. Koch

  6. University of Applied Sciences, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Boris P. Koch

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Contributions

G.J.C.U., C.M. and A.N. designed the study. G.J.C.U., C.M. and G.M. conducted the experiments. M.W. carried out FT-ICR-MS analysis. G.J.C.U., C.M., C.B., G.M., A.N., B.P.K. and A.J.D. analysed the data. G.J.C.U., C.M., B.P.K. and A.J.D. wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Graham J. C. Underwood.

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Underwood, G.J.C., Michel, C., Meisterhans, G. et al. Organic matter from Arctic sea-ice loss alters bacterial community structure and function. Nature Clim Change 9, 170–176 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0391-7

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