A phytoplankton class-specific primary production model applied to the Kerguelen Islands region (Southern Ocean)

As part of the KErguelen: compared study of the Ocean and the Plateau in Surface water (KEOPS) project in late summer 2005, we examine the phytoplankton community composition and associated primary production in the waters surrounding the Kerguelen Archipelago, with the emphasis on two contrasted environments: (i) the Kerguelen Plateau, where a large bloom occurs annually, and (ii) the high-nutrient low-chlorophyll (HNLC) offshore waters. A biomarker pigment approach was used to assess the community composition in terms of chlorophyll biomass of three phytoplankton size classes, namely micro-, nano-, and picophytoplankton. The second objective was to evaluate a global class-specific approach for estimating the contribution of the three pigment-based size classes to the primary production in the study area. To do so, primary production rates associated with each phytoplankton class were computed from the class-specific chlorophyll biomass coupled to a class-specific primary production model, and compared with in situ measurements of size-fractionated 13C-based primary production. The iron-enriched bloom region was dominated by microphytoplankton (diatoms), which contributed 80–90% to the total primary production (of ≈1 g C m−2 d−1). In the HNLC area, the primary production was about 0.30 g C m−2 d−1, mainly (65%) achieved by small diatoms and nanoflagellates. The model results show a good overall agreement between predicted and measured total primary production rates. In terms of size classes, agreements were higher for the bloom region than for the HNLC waters. Discrepancies in this complex iron-limited area may be explained essentially by the smaller size of diatoms, or a different set of photophysiological properties.