Ace Lake Plankton and Water Chemistry Time Series in Antarctica

ASAC Project 919 data from the Australian Antarctic Data Centre documents the microbial loop dynamics in Ace Lake, a saline Antarctic lake. The dataset includes over 50 fields tracking plankton communities, nutrient concentrations, and physical parameters from December 1995 to February 1997. It captures seasonal variation in autotrophic and heterotrophic bacterial abundances across the lake's stratified water column.

Use Cases

• Model the relationship between Chlorophyll a, Ammonium, Nitrate, and Phosphate concentrations to understand nitrogen limitation in phytoplankton.
• Analyze seasonal dynamics of Autotrophic Bacteria and Heterotrophic Bacteria abundances against variables like Ice Thickness, Water Temperature, and Julian Day.
• Study vertical stratification by comparing community metrics like Phototrophic Nanoflagellates and Mesodinium rubrum between the Mixolimnion and Monimolimnion layers at different Depths.
• Investigate the life cycle of key species by tracking Mesodinium rubrum cysts and Paralabidocera antarctica naupliar counts across Seasons and Date.
• Correlate Bacterial Production Thymidine and Bacterial Production Leucine measurements with Dissolved Organic Carbon and Particulate Organic Carbon to assess microbial activity.

Strengths

• Over 50 distinct measurement fields covering biological, chemical, and physical parameters.
• Time-series data spans 14 months from December 1995 to February 1997, capturing full seasonal cycles.
• Data distinguishes between two distinct lake strata (Mixolimnion and Monimolimnion) and multiple plankton functional groups.

Limitations

• Exact row count and sample size are unknown, limiting statistical power assessment.
• Data is temporally stale, with the last update recorded in February 1997.
• Geographic scope is limited to a single lake (Ace Lake) in the Vestfold Hills, Antarctica.

Provenance

Source

Australian Antarctic Data Centre (AU_AADC) for ASAC Project 919.

Collection Method

Field measurements and sampling from Ace Lake, a saline meromictic basin.

Time Range

December 1995 to February 1997.

Freshness

1997-02-28

Geography

Ace Lake, Vestfold Hills, Eastern Antarctica.