ABSTRACT
Sea ice microbial communities have been distinguished based on their location within the ice column. Physical parameters that may affect growth, metabolism, and survival of microalgae include light temperature, nutrients, and salinity. Relatively few estimates have been made of growth rates in natural populations or laboratory cultures of sea ice microalgae. Survival of an organism under adverse conditions is important to the perpetuation of a species; when a favorable environment is encountered, the genome may be expressed in terms of growth and metabolism. Dark survival by temperate planktonic and benthic microalgae has been studied extensively. Growth of the sea ice itself can lead to entrapment of algae from the water column resulting in an overestimate of growth rate. Light has been proposed as the primary factor influencing growth of the bottom ice algal community. One environmental factor influencing algal growth in bottom, interior, or surface ice communities that is rarely considered is the ice substrate itself.
