Size-fractionated bacterial production, as measured by 3H–leucine uptake, varied from 76 to 416 ng C L− 1 h− 1. The contribution of particle-attached bacteria (> 3 µm fraction) to total bacterial production decreased from > 90 % at the Mackenzie River stations to < 20 % at an offshore marine site, and the relative importance of this particle-based fraction was inversely correlated with salinity and positively correlated with particulate organic carbon concentrations. Glucose enrichment experiments indicated that bacterial metabolism was carbon limited in the Mackenzie River but not in the coastal ocean. Prior exposure of water samples to full sunlight increased the biolability of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in the Mackenzie River but decreased it in the Beaufort Sea.
Estimated depth-integrated bacterial respiration rates in the Mackenzie River were higher than depth-integrated primary production rates, while at the marine stations bacterial respiration rates were near or below the integrated primary production rates. Consistent with these results, PCO2 measurements showed surface water supersaturation in the river (mean of 146 % of air equilibrium values) and subsaturation or near-saturation in the coastal sea. These results show a well-developed microbial food web in the Mackenzie River system that will likely convert tundra carbon to atmospheric CO2 at increasing rates as the arctic climate continues to warm.