 | ||
Representative species Diatom, Golden algae, Yellow‑green algae, Raphidophyte, Wakame | ||
Under ice algae
Ice algae are any of the various types of algal communities encountered in annual and multi-year sea-ice. The ice algae communities play an important role in primary production and are therefore considered an important part of both northern and southern polar ecosystems.
Contents
Sea-ice algal communities can be found between ice crystals or attached to them, in the interstitial water or brine channels between ice crystals, or simply associated with the undersurface of the ice.
Although the productivity of pelagic phytoplankton in the water column is greater than that of sea-ice algae on an annual basis, in most offshore regions of the Southern Ocean the blooms of sea-ice algae differ considerably in terms of timing and distribution, and sea-ice algae provide food resources for higher trophic level organisms in seasons and regions where water column biological production is otherwise low or negligible.
A different kind of ice algae live on glacier surfaces, a permanently cold freshwater ecosystem. Known members of this group include Mesotaenium berggrenii and Ancylonema nordensskiöldii.
Searching for sea ice algae in a frozen ne greenland
