Sea‐Ice Microbial Community Succession and the Potential Role of Parasitoids in the Maintenance of Diversity During the Spring Bloom

ABSTRACT Sea ice is a crucial, yet declining, habitat in high latitude ecosystems. Here we present a high‐temporal resolution amplicon sequence data set collected during the spring ice‐algal bloom near Utqiaġvik, Alaska in 2021 to study sea‐ice microbial dynamics. The ice‐algal bloom peaked on May 8th, reaching 46.6 mg chlorophyll a m −2 and thereafter became limited by nitrate availability. A massive bloom of the oil‐degrading bacterium, Oleispira (> 80% relative abundance), coincided with the algal bloom raising questions about hydrocarbon exposure. The sea‐ice algal bloom was dominated by diatoms, particularly, Nitzschia spp. and transitioned into a flagellate‐dominated postbloom community which aligned with melt‐associated changes to the physicochemical environment. We explored the relationship between putative parasitoids, Chytridiomycetes, Thecofilosea (Cercozoa), Oomycetes, Syndiniales (Dinoflagellata) and Labyrinthulomycetes (Bigyra) and potential microalgal hosts. Chytrids peaked periodically suggesting synchronised infections and Cryothecomonas (Thecofilosea) was observed parasitizing Nitzschia spp. for the first time in Arctic sea ice. Co‐occurrence analysis suggested that diatoms, especially Nitzschia , were the primary hosts of Pacific‐Arctic parasitoids and that top‐down parasitoid control may dramatically alter community composition over short timescales, such as days. These results provide important insights into the drivers of spring bloom timing and maintenance of microalgal diversity in sea ice.