Laboratory Experiments Suggest a Limited Impact of Increased Nitrogen Deposition on Snow Algae Blooms.

ABSTRACT: Snow algal blooms decrease snow albedo and increase local melt rates. However, the causes behind the size and frequency of these blooms are still not well understood. One factor likely contributing is nutrient availability, specifically nitrogen and phosphorus. The nutrient requirements of the taxa responsible for these blooms are not known. Here, we assessed the growth of three commercial strains of snow algae under 24 different nutrient treatments that varied in both absolute and relative concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus. After 38 days of incubation, we measured total biomass and cell size and estimated their effective albedo reduction surface. Snow algal strains tended to respond similarly and achieved bloom-like cell densities over a wide range of nutrient conditions. However,

SUBMITTER: Almela P 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11604572 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature