Description: The bacterial community in the sea surface microlayer (SML) (bacterioneuston) is exposed to unique physicochemical properties and stronger meteorological influences than the bacterial community in the underlying water (ULW) (bacterioplankton). Despite extensive research, however, the structuring factors of the bacterioneuston remain enigmatic. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of meteorological conditions on bacterioneuston and bacterioplankton community structures and to identify distinct, abundant, active bacterioneuston members. Nineteen bacterial assemblages from the SML and ULW of the southern Baltic Sea, sampled from 2006 to 2008, were compared. Single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) fingerprints were analyzed to distinguish total (based on the 16S rRNA gene) and active (based on 16S rRNA) as well as nonattached and particle-attached bacterial assemblages. The nonattached communities of the SML and ULW were very similar overall (similarity: 47 to 99%; mean: 88%). As an exception, during low wind speeds and high radiation levels, the active bacterioneuston community increasingly differed from the active bacterioplankton community. In contrast, the particle-attached assemblages in the two compartments were generally less similar (similarity: 8 to 98%; mean: 62%), with a strong variability in the active communities that was solely related to wind speed. Both nonattached and particle-attached active members of the bacterioneuston, which were found exclusively in the SML, were related to environmental clones belonging to the Cyanobacteria, Bacteroidetes, and Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria originally found in diverse habitats, but especially in water columns. These results suggest that bacterioneuston communities are strongly influenced by the ULW but that specific meteorological conditions favor the development of distinctive populations in the air-water interface.

Description: Epsilonproteobacteria have been found globally distributed in marine anoxic/sulfidic areas mediating relevant transformations within the sulfur and nitrogen cycles. In the Baltic Sea redox zones, chemoautotrophic epsilonproteobacteria mainly belong to the Sulfurimonas gotlandica GD17 cluster for which recently a representative strain, S. gotlandica GD1T, could be established as a model organism. In this study, the potential effects of changes in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) and pH on S. gotlandica GD1T were examined. Bacterial cell abundance within a broad range of DIC concentrations and pH values were monitored and substrate utilization was determined. The results showed that the DIC saturation concentration for achieving maximal cell numbers was already reached at 800 µmol/l, which is well below in situ DIC levels. The pH optimum was between 6.6 and 8.0. Within a pH range of 6.6-7.1 there was no significant difference in substrate utilization; however, at lower pH values maximum cell abundance decreased sharply and cell-specific substrate consumption increased.

Description: Global warming poses new threats to marine ecosystems since rising seawater temperature potentially induces cascading effects in biogeochemical cycles and food webs. Heterotrophic bacteria are the main producers of CO2 in the ocean, thereby counteracting the biological drawdown of CO2 by primary production. In Antarctic marine systems, low seawater temperature, and the low availability of labile organic matter are major environmental constraints on bacterial growth and degradation activity. However, temperature and the availability of resources for heterotrophic bacteria undergo considerable change induced by climate warming combined with subsequent ice melt and changes in primary productivity. This project aims to test single and combined effects of temperature and organic matter availability on Antarctic marine bacterioplankton. This data set includes biological and biogeochemical parameters measured alongside the CTD casts during the Polarstern cruise PS111 to the Weddell Sea. Samples were collected in the upper 100 m of the water column at the Eastern Weddell Sea Shelf and at the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf. Concentrations of different components of dissolved organic matter and inorganic nutrients as well as chlorophyll a concentrations and bacterial cell numbers are reported.

Description: Global warming poses new threats to marine ecosystems since rising seawater temperature potentially induces cascading effects in biogeochemical cycles and food webs. Heterotrophic bacteria are the main producers of CO2 in the ocean, thereby counteracting the biological drawdown of CO2 by primary production. In Antarctic marine systems, low seawater temperature, and the low availability of labile organic matter are major environmental constraints on bacterial growth and degradation activity. However, temperature and the availability of resources for heterotrophic bacteria undergo considerable change induced by climate warming combined with subsequent ice melt and changes in primary productivity. This project aims to test single and combined effects of temperature and organic matter availability on Antarctic marine bacterioplankton. This data set includes measurements on bacterial biomass production at 0°C and 3°C measured alongside the CTD casts during the Polarstern cruise PS111 to the Weddell Sea. Samples were collected in the upper 100 m of the water column at the Eastern Weddell Sea Shelf and at the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf.

Description: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of different light quality, especially ultraviolet radiation (UVR), on the dynamics of volatile halogenated organic compounds (VHOCs) at the sea surface. Short term experiments were conducted with floating gas-tight mesocosms of different optical qualities. Six halocarbons (CH3I, CHCl3, CH2Br2, CH2ClI, CHBr3 and CH2I2), known to be produced by phytoplankton, together with a variety of biological and environmental variables were measured in the coastal southern Baltic Sea and in the Raunefjord (North Sea). These experiments showed that ambient levels of UVR have no significant influence on VHOC dynamics in the natural systems. We attribute it to the low radiation doses that phytoplankton cells receive in a normal turbulent surface mixed layer. The VHOC concentrations were influenced by their production and removal processes, but they were not correlated with biological or environmental parameters investigated. Diatoms were most likely the dominant biogenic source of VHOCs in the Baltic Sea experiment, whereas in the Raunefjord experiment macroalgae probably contributed strongly to the production of VHOCs. The variable stable carbon isotope signatures (d13C values) of bromoform (CHBr3) also indicate that different autotrophic organisms were responsible for CHBr3 production in the two coastal environments. In the Raunefjord, despite strong daily variations in CHBr3 concentration, the carbon isotopic ratio was fairly stable with a mean value of -26 per mil. During the declining spring phytoplankton bloom in the Baltic Sea, the d13C values of CHBr3 were enriched in 13C and showed noticeable diurnal changes (-12 per mil ± 4). These results show that isotope signature analysis is a useful tool to study both the origin and dynamics of VHOCs in natural systems.

Description: Upwelling systems are significant sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N₂O). The Benguela Upwelling System is one of the most productive regions worldwide and a temporally variable source of N₂O. Strong O₂ depletions above the shelf are favoring periodically OMZ formations. We aimed to assess underlying N₂O production and consumption processes on different temporal and spatial scales during austral winter in the Benguela Upwelling System, when O₂⁻deficiency in the water column is relatively low. The fieldwork took place during the cruise M157 (August 4ᵗʰ – September 16ᵗʰ 2019) onboard the R/V METEOR. This expedition included four close-coastal regions around Walvis Bay at 23°S, which presented the lowest O₂ concentrations near the seafloor and thus may provide hotspots of N₂O production. Seawater was collected in 10 L free-flow bottles by using a rosette system equipped with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors (SBE 911plus, Seabird-electronics, USA).Seawater samples were collected from 10 L free-flow bottles bubble-free, filled into 200 mL serum bottles and immediately fixed with saturated mercury chloride (HgCl₂). Concentrations of dissolved N₂O were measured by a purge and trap system using a dynamic headspace (Sabbaghzadeh et al., 2021). The N₂O gas saturation (N₂Oₛₐₜ in %) was calculated from the concentration ratio between the seawater sample and seawater equilibrated with the atmosphere. ∆N₂O (N₂O saturation disequilibrium in nmol L⁻¹) was calculated as the difference between the measured N₂O concentration and the atmospheric equilibrium N₂O concentration using Bunsen solubility coefficient (Weiss and Price, 1980). AOU (apparent oxygen utilization in µmol L⁻¹) expresses the O₂ consumption by microbial respiration and was calculated as the difference between the equilibrated O₂ and observed O₂ concentration with the same physico-chemical properties (Weiss and Price, 1980).

Description: Upwelling systems are significant sources of atmospheric nitrous oxide (N₂O). The Benguela Upwelling System is one of the most productive regions worldwide and a temporally variable source of N₂O. Strong O₂ depletions above the shelf are favoring periodically OMZ formations. We aimed to assess underlying N₂O production and consumption processes on different temporal and spatial scales during austral winter in the Benguela Upwelling System, when O₂-deficiency in the water column is relatively low. The fieldwork took place during the cruise M157 (August 4ᵗʰ – September 16ᵗʰ 2019) onboard the R/V METEOR. This expedition included four close-coastal regions around Walvis Bay at 23°S, which presented the lowest O₂ concentrations near the seafloor and thus may provide hotspots of N₂O production. Seawater was collected in 10 L free-flow bottles by using a rosette system equipped with conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sensors (SBE 911plus, Seabird-electronics, USA). Concentrations of inorganic nutrients (PO₄³⁻, NH₄⁺, NO₃⁻, NO₂⁻, and SiO₂) were measured colorimetrically according to Grasshoff et al. (1999) by means of a continuous segmented flow analyzer (SEAL Analytical, QuAAtro39). To determine the water mass fractions along the sampling transects, vertical profiles were collected using a free-falling microstructure profiler (MSS90L, Sea & Sun Technology). Temperature, dissolved oxygen, and salinity were measured with a CTD system consisting of a SeaBird 911+ probe, mounted on a sampling rosette.