Summary
An ice microflora community collected from the bottom of seasonal pack-ice off the Amery Ice Shelf, Antarctica, was grown at salinities which varied from 11.5‰ to 34‰. The response exhibited by the community and by individual species was characterized by an initial lag phase-adaptation period followed by a short period of exponential growth. Doubling rates based on changes in chlorophyll a had a range from 0.05 to 0.23 day-1 during the time required to reach maximum chlorophyll a concentration and a range of 0.04 to 0.42 day-1 during a period of exponential growth. Exponential growth rates of individual species ranged from 0.2 to 1.0 doublings day-1. Growth occurred at all salinities above 11.5‰. Community growth rates increased with increasing salinity, and the growth-salinity response of most species was shifted toward higher salinities suggesting that this Antarctic ice microalgal community was adapted to the ambient salinity regime: 34‰.
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Vargo, G.A., Fanning, K., Heil, C. et al. Growth rates and the salinity response of an Antarctic ice microflora community. Polar Biol 5, 241–247 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446092
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00446092