Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 09/26/2011 - 03:40

Mr. League, We just returned from a week's worth of field trips out at Ingram's pond. We saw many cool macro invertebrates and plankton. Here's this week's question: Are phytoplanton the only producers in the food webs of Antarctica? We learned how vital they were to the health of our pond, but were curious if there are any other producers in your ecosystem other than phytoplanton? We see a lot of large animals living in Antarctica, so we know there is energy.....just curious if it all stems from plankton or not.

Mr Crandell's Classes

Michael League

Mr. Crandell's classes,Sorry it took me so long to respond, but I had to do a little research
to get to the bottom of your question.
First, just like your pond, phytoplankton is a major primary producer in
McMurdo Sound. But the story isn't finished there. Remember that
Antarctica basically has one long night (winter) where the Sun doesn't
rise? Well as a result, there isn't a lot of phytoplankton here during
WinFly. However, we are rapidly gaining more and more sunlight everyday
as we transition to Antarctica's summer. In just a few short months,
there will be a massive plankton bloom. Underwater visibility will go
from the crystal clear 1,000+ feet that we are enjoying now to a soupy
green 5 feet with all the plankton that will be in the water. Amazing!
Other than phytoplankton, there are about 3-4 species of red algae.
These algae have the unique adaptation of being able to survive 1 year
without light. Pretty amazing!
In answering your question, I read a lot about phytoplankton, diatoms,
red algae, and coralline algae. These are all producers in the McMurdo
Sound ecosystem and the basis for most of the food web.
Thanks for a great question!
Mike