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Distribution of dissolved organic carbon linked to bacterial community composition during the summer melting season in Arctic fjords

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Abstract

Melting glaciers play a substantial role in the Arctic hydrography of Svalbard and the associated bacterial processes. In this study, we surveyed the spatial variability in dissolved organic carbon (DOC), fluorescent dissolved organic matter (FDOM), and bacterial biogeography (diversity and community composition) using 16S rRNA gene metabarcoding at four fjords in Svalbard in August 2019. The environmental heterogeneity of Arctic fjord seawater was represented by the water mass balance parameters of surface water (SW), subsurface water (SSW), and intermediate water (IW). The DOC concentrations in the SW (avg. 67 ± 7 μM), IW (avg. 68 ± 8 μM), and SSW (avg. 68 ± 7 μM) of the surveyed Arctic fjords did not differ significantly (P > 0.01). We found that the DOC concentration depended on the microbial community because of the strong association between DOC and marine humic-like FDOM (R2 = 0.48 for SW and R2 = 0.45 for SSW), along with the humification, biological, and fluorescence indices. Metabarcoding results revealed that six heterotrophic bacteria (Alphaproteobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Bacteroidia, Verrucomicrobiae, Actinobacteria, and Acidimicrobiia) were dominant, and their population dynamics represented the water mass balance. Furthermore, our statistical results indicated that Actinobacteria may significantly affect the DOC distribution during the glacier melt season. Our results confirm that the water mass balance shapes the bacterial community composition and suggest that DOC derived from microbial activities warrants significant attention considering the effects of climate change during the glacier melt season in the Arctic fjords around Svalbard.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Dr. S.I. Nam at the Korean Polar Research Institute, crew members of RV Helmer Hanssen who assisted with sample collection, and Dr. Brice Grunert and two anonymous reviewers for providing constructive comments and suggestions that substantially improved the manuscript. This study was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2019R1I1A1A01058140) and by a grant from the National Institute of Fisheries Science (R2021048).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Marine Molecular Bioscience, Gangneung-Wonju National University, 7, Jukheon-gil, Gangneung-si, Gangwon-do, 25457, Republic of Korea

    Dukki Han

  2. Fisheries Resources and Environment Division, National Institute of Fisheries Science, Busan, 46083, Republic of Korea

    Moonho Son

  3. South Sea Fisheries Research Institute, National Institute of Fisheries Science, Yeosu, 59780, Republic of Korea

    Ki-Hyuk Eom, Young-Tae Park & MinKyu Choi

  4. Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Jeju National University, Jeju, 63243, Republic of Korea

    Jeonghyun Kim

  5. Department of Oceanography, Faculty of Earth Systems and Environmental Sciences, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 61186, Republic of Korea

    Tae-Hoon Kim

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Contributions

All authors made substantial contributions to this work. The study was conceived and designed by DGH and THK. Material preparation and data collection were performed by DGH, MHS, KHE, YTP, MC, and JK. Data analysis was performed by DGH, MHS, and JK with the support of THK. DGH and THK wrote the manuscript, which was revised by all authors. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Tae-Hoon Kim.

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Han, D., Son, M., Eom, KH. et al. Distribution of dissolved organic carbon linked to bacterial community composition during the summer melting season in Arctic fjords. Polar Biol 45, 331–343 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-021-02995-1

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