Stratification and summer protist communities in the Arctic influenced coastal systems of Nunavik (Québec, Canada)

Abstract

Phytoplankton and other protists in the 3 µm to 50 µm size fraction are grazed on by zooplankton and form the base of Arctic marine food webs essential for local indigenous communities. Anthropogenic climate change is increasing stratification over much of the Arctic Ocean and surrounding seas, but the influence of stratification on protist communities in more coastal regions along Eastern Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay is little known. We used 18S rRNA and rDNA amplicon sequencing during two consecutive summers (2017 and 2018) and detailed water column properties to compare the 3 µm to 50 µm protist communities under contrasting stratification regimes in the Eastern Hudson Bay Complex. We found that the surface mixed layer in Eastern Hudson Bay, which is under the influence of river runoff, was strongly stratified and dominated by mixotrophic and bacterivorous taxa, mostly the dinoflagellates Heterocapsa rotundata and Gymnodiniales spp., and a more diatom-dominated community at the Subsurface Chlorophyll Maximum (SCM), which persisted in deeper colder and more saline water. The massive sequencing effort retrieved seven putative toxic algae from the upper warmer waters of eastern Hudson Bay. These included Pseudo-nitzschia spp. and potentially harmful dinoflagellates, most notably Alexandrium sp. The persistent weaker stratification conditions in Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay in summer favored a different diatom community, dominated by Chaetoceros spp. and Thalassiosira spp., and small photosynthetic flagellates including Phaeocystis pouchetii and Micromonas polaris. As freshwater input increases and stratification intensifies in the Arctic, our findings suggest the summer dinoflagellate-based community seen in coastal Hudson Bay may also be favored in other regions receiving increased river runoff. These conditions could also favor harmful algal events. The Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay protist communities were found nearer the surface and consisted of diverse species able to profit from ongoing nutrient input due to tidal mixing. These results suggest greater resilience in this and other tidally influenced coastal Arctic Bays lacking larger rivers inputs.