Seasonal variation in benthic community oxygen demand: A response to an ice algal bloom in the Beaufort Sea, Canadian Arctic?

Understanding pathways of carbon cycling on Arctic shelves is critical if we are to evaluate the potential effects of climate change on these systems. We investigated the relationship between ice algal standing stock and benthic respiration between January and July 2004 at a time series station in the southeastern Beaufort Sea. Both ice algal chlorophyll a and benthic sediment oxygen demand showed > 10-fold increases from between March and April. While some of the increase in oxygen demand can be attributed to bacteria and meio-fauna, most was due to the activities of macroinfauna. We also observed a trend toward lower sediment pigment content during the pulse in benthic carbon remineralization. While chl a sedimentation also increased by a factor of 7 during this period, fluxes were not sufficient to provide for the increased carbon demand. We suggest that sedimenting ice algae provided a cue for increased benthic activity, and that direct consumption of ice algae and increased oxygen availability in the sediment due to bioturbation by epifaunal organisms led to the enhancement in respiration rates. Seasonal patterns in primary productivity and the activity of resident epifaunal and infaunal communities are, thus, important factors in determining carbon cycling patterns on Arctic shelves.