Submitted by Anonymous on Sun, 05/13/2007 - 21:47
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Ask Ms. Prevenas

So if it's covered with ice most of the year, what are the producers in the Arctic marine ecosystem?

[for my students' discussion Monday]

Mr. P.
Mon, 05/14/2007 - 08:53

Maggie Prevenas

Hi Mr. P!Ya, it's all about the ice algae. It is hard to imagine life thriving in icy cold water, but it does. In the ice are tiny phytoplankton. Sunlight passes through the ice. The tiny diatoms (phytoplankton) photosynthesize. They are food for the zooplankton. Zooplankton are food for larger animals. Although the ice covers the water, life continues based on the sunlight that the phytoplankton transform into food energy.
 
My research mission was all about being in the Bering Sea, in the ice, just at the time the ice was melting and the huge phytoplankton bloom, that marks the beginning of the spring, happened. The scientists are still analyzing the data that they collected, so more information will be available. Understanding HOW, WHEN, WHERE, and WHY the phytoplankton bloom happens as a result of seasonal ice melting will help scientists better understand what will happen when permanent ice melts in areas of the Arctic that have never melted before.
 
I will continue to keep you posted as I learn more. Right now, the next Healy mission is about to depart Dutch Harbor on it's way further north to study many of the same topics that we studied with the BEST cruise. I will follow that mission from this website in the next few weeks.
 
Thank you so much for your interest!
 
warmly,
 
Mrs. P 
 

Mon, 05/14/2007 - 09:49

Mr. Pittenger

So, do the ice algae become plankton as the ice melts?  Do they live in the sea after the ice is gone?

Mon, 05/14/2007 - 22:36

Mr. P.

Mahalo Maggie,
I made up a slide show with only pictures from your site, and a couple NOAA maps.  I think the kids got it.  We tied together the producers we've studied here, and the algae you saw.  Then we talked about food webs/chains, using your phytoplankton and zooplankton pictures, and shots of seals and the fox, then the eagle, orca, and albatross, and finally the polar bear kill site.  Only things missing were some intermediary consumers between zooplankton and seals.  But that gave us something to talk about!

Looking forward to your return and all the stories.

Ben

Fri, 05/18/2007 - 06:45

Maggie Prevenas

Hi Ben- 
Yes ice algae melt into the ocean and are plankton. Plankton is a way of living in the ocean, floating around, moved by the action of the water. The meltwater stabilizes the water column in the Bering Sea and the diatoms take the nutrients from the water and photosynthesize and reproduce like crazy, until the nutrients, the limiting nutrient, has been used and taken up by the diatoms.
 
They die, sink to the bottom, and eventually decay. Their body, now recycled into the rich nutrients of the Bering Sea, will act to fuel the next phytoplankton bloom.
 
Thanks for all your good questions, and if there is anyway that I can help all your students learn more about the food web of the Bering Sea, just holler.
 
warmly,
 
Maggie 

Mon, 05/09/2011 - 17:07

Anonymous

it is so cool

Mon, 05/09/2011 - 17:07

Anonymous

it is so cool