title: Interannual variability of phyto-bacterioplankton biomass and production in coastal and offshore waters of the Baltic Sea.
abstract: The microbial part of the pelagic food web is seldom characterized in models despite its major contribution to biogeochemical cycles. In the Baltic Sea, spatial and temporal high frequency sampling over three years revealed changes in heterotrophic bacteria and phytoplankton coupling (biomass and production) related to hydrographic properties of the ecosystem. Phyto- and bacterioplankton were bottom-up driven in both coastal and offshore areas. Cold winter temperature was essential for phytoplankton to conform to the successional sequence in temperate waters. In terms of annual carbon production, the loss of the spring bloom (diatoms and dinoflagellates) after mild winters tended not to be compensated for by other taxa, not even summer cyanobacteria. These results improve our ability to project Baltic Sea ecosystem response to short- and long-term environmental changes.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial model Systems - EEMiS, Department of Biology and Environmental Science, Linnæus University, 39182, Kalmar, Sweden, catherine.legrand@lnu.se.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Legrand
authors.forename: Emil
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fridolfsson
authors.forename: Mireia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bertos-Fortis
authors.forename: Elin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Lindehoff
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Larsson
authors.forename: Jarone
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pinhassi
authors.forename: Agneta
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andersson
mesh_terms: D018533:Biomass; D010839:Phytoplankton; D012623:Seawater