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Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Establishment of Microbial Eukaryotic Enrichment Cultures from a Chemically Stratified Antarctic Lake and Assessment of Carbon Fixation Potential
Published on: April 20, 2012
Abundance and function of bacteria in the Southern Ocean
1Observatoire Océanologique de Banyuls, Université P. et M. Curie, U.M.R-CNRS 7621, Laboratoire Arago, 66650 Banyuls-sur-Mer, France. delille@obs-banyuls.fr
Abstract:
The very low water temperatures existing in polar oceans that experience seasonal advance and retreat of pack ice do not inhibit the presence of large bacterial populations. Bacteria may contribute significantly to the energy transfers within the Southern Ocean. In the last decades, notable progress has been made in the knowledge of the role of marine bacteria in the Southern Ocean. A short overview of the abundance and function ofAntarctic marine bacteria is given, with respect to metabolic activity. The importance of spatial and temporal variability is described. The ecological function of Antarctic marine bacterioplankton is discussed. Depending on food web structure, bacteria may be either a link in food webs supporting metazoan production, or a sink where bacterial production is metabolised by microorganisms. In the more oligotrophic areas and during certain periods of the year bacterial biomass dominates phytoplankton. The microbial food web is therefore the dominant pathway for carbon and energy flow in Antarctic seawater.
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