TITLE:    Palmer LTER: Biomass and community composition of euphausiids within
          the Peninsula Grid, November 1991 Cruise
AUTHOR:   Langdon B Quetin, Robin M Ross, Barbara Prezelin, Karen L Haberman,
              Karen L Hacecky, Tim Newberger
Palmer LTER Contribution #07

During the Palmer LTER cruise on the RV Polar Duke in mid-November 1991, we
investigated the distribution, abundance and community composition of the
zooplankton and nekton community along three transect lines that each
intersected the ice edge.  Ice cover has been cited as one of the primary
determinants of the structure and function of the Antarctic ecosystem by
various investigators.  The data from this cruise allowed us to investigate
the validity of this presumption for larger secondary producers during the
austral spring west of the Antarctic Peninsula.  This note is a preliminary
look at some of the data from the cruise.  Abundance and community composition
of two dominant euphausiids was compared to observations of ice cover, and
measurements of phytoplankton standing stock.  Standing stock of phytoplankton
was determined by high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) techniques at the
same stations by other members of the Palmer LTER (see Prezelin et al. this
volume for description).  Measurements at ten meter intervals were integrated
over the top 100 meters of the water column to estimate food availability for
grazers in milligams of chlorophyll a per meter.