Sea Ice Algal and Bacterial Productivity: Patterns, Processes and Environmental Change

Dear Colleagues,

Sea ice algal productivity is a critical component of polar marine ecosystems, initiating primary production in early spring when sunlight begins to penetrate the ice. These microalgae form dynamic communities within and beneath the sea ice, contributing significantly to carbon fixation before the onset of open-water phytoplankton blooms. Sea ice algal productivity and communities are shaped by a complex interplay of light availability, nutrient fluxes, snow and ice structure, and ocean–ice–atmosphere interactions. These communities exhibit strong spatial and temporal variability, driven by microscale habitat heterogeneity and species-specific adaptations to extreme polar conditions.

Equally important is the sea ice bacterial productivity, including bacterial respiration and nutrient remineralization, which, in certain periods, can exceed primary productivity in the sea ice, highlighting the role of microbial food web processes in regulating nutrient cycling and oxygen dynamics. Quantifying how primary productivity and bacterial productivity contribute to and regulate carbon cycling is essential to understanding the structure and functioning of sea ice ecosystems. Such insights are critical for predicting how food webs and biogeochemical processes in Polar regions will respond to ongoing environmental changes.

This Special Issue aims to advance and synthesize knowledge relating to the biological and environmental drivers of sea ice algal and bacterial productivity in polar ecosystems. We welcome studies that investigate how these microbial communities respond to physical and chemical gradients and how their activity shapes broader ecological and biogeochemical processes. Contributions from both the Arctic and Antarctic are encouraged. 

Key themes include the following: 

• Spatial and/or temporal patterns of algal and/or bacterial biomass, production, and bloom development.
• Influence of environmental factors (e.g., light availability and spectral composition, nutrient dynamics, salinity, and temperature) on sea ice microbial productivity and community structure.
• Autotrophic, heterotrophic, and/or mixotrophic contributions to sea ice and under-ice carbon budgets.
• Nutrient recycling, remineralization, and oxygen dynamics in relation to microbial processes.
• Impacts of sea ice decline, freshwater input, stratification, and glacier melt on productivity.
• Carbon export pathways and coupling between sea ice, pelagic, or benthic ecosystems.
• Integrated approaches combining sea ice biological, physical, and biogeochemical data.
• Modeling efforts that incorporate sea ice microbial processes into ecosystem or carbon budget frameworks. 

We invite contributions that address key questions about how evolving environmental conditions influence sea ice’s algal and bacterial productivity, and how these microbial processes regulate carbon cycling in sea ice-covered ecosystems. This Special Issue seeks to bring together high-quality research focused on microbial productivity and ecosystem functioning in sea ice environments. By including contributions from both Polar regions, we aim to provide a comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge and highlight critical research gaps in the context of climate change.

The Special Issue will publish high-quality papers dealing with the aspects mentioned above, both from the Arctic and Antarctica.

Dr. Dorte Haubjerg Søgaard
Guest Editor

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• sea ice ecology
• sea ice biogeochemistry
• microbial processes
• nutrient cycling within and beneath sea ice
• sea ice algal productivity
• sea ice bacterial productivity
• arctic and antarctic ecosystem dynamics