TITLE:   Palmer LTER: Microbial processes in an ice-dominated marine
         ecosystem
AUTHORS: Matt Church, Christopher J. Carrillo, Karin Bjorkman, S. Kerr,
	 J. Christina, M. Karner, Louis Tupas, David Bird, Ed DeLong, Stewart
	 Donachie, and David M. Karl
DATE:    2-4 August 2000
PLACE:   LTER All Scientists Meeting 2000, Long-Term Ecological Research:
	 Unifying Principles & Global Applications, Snowbird, Utah
	 Poster - Session: Aquatic Studies/Hydrology/Geomorphology (F07)

         Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI. 96822

ABSTRACT
As one component of a marine ecosystem-based study of shelf and slope waters
west of the Antarctic Peninsula, our project is focused on inorganic and
organic carbon inventories and fluxes, especially the role of heterotrophic
microorganisms (Bacteria and Archaea).  Our experimental approach is designed
to describe the coupling between photoautotrophic carbon production and
heterotrophic carbon utilization by measuring various components of the
microbial loop, including standing stocks, production rates, as well as 
predator and resource controls on population dynamics. This research program
is located in a climate-sensitive region influenced by the extent and duration
of sea-ice.  Significant results document a temporal uncoupling of auto- and
heterotrophic processes, the presence of a relatively high percentages of
planktonic Archaea, especially in deep (>100 m) water, and significant
seasonal and interannual variability in microbial dynamics.  Comparative
ecosystem analyses with similar data sets from ongoing research in the N.
Pacific gyre reveal insights into microbial strategies for survival in the 
global ocean.