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Summary of projectMarine terminating glaciers are retreating due to climate change. It is possible that the nutrients and other unique environmental characteristics provided by glaciers may contribute to shaping phytoplankton communities in glaciated regions. If glaciers play a role in determining phytoplankton community structure, then their retreat and loss may impact glaciated coastal ecosystems negatively.
This study investigates spatial trends of phytoplankton community composition in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Samples were taken at various glaciated and unglaciated sites near the shore and transects out, heading away from the glacier/bay. Samples were analyzed for various nutrients, environmental parameters and phytoplankton community composition. Analysis of community composition indicate that there are no significant differences between phytoplankton communities based on depth, distance or the presence of glaciers. 24% of the variance in phytoplankton community composition was explained by environmental data while 76% remained unexplained. Results show that the presence of marine terminating glaciers may not be important in structuring phytoplankton communities. |
Many thanks to the Bhatia Lab, Bertrand Lab, and Eric Brossier for providing most of the photos found within this website
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