Common diatom species in arctic spring blooms: Their distribution and abundance

In the Arctic Sea, common spring species such as Fossula arctica, Fragilariopsis cylindrus, F. oceanica, Thalassiosira antarctica var. borealis, T. hyalina and Chaetoceros socialis have a somewhat different distribution, depending on the area in question. Furthermore, the pennate chain-forming Fossula arctica and Fragianriopsis spp. usually precede the centric genera. Among the centric ones, Thalassiosira spp. often appear before Chaetoceros spp These successional patterns as well as how species composition can be used as an aid in phytoplankton ecology is discussed in the present paper. The results are achieved from fieldwork as well as a literature study. In order to pick out typical spring species, different seasons were studied.