A biological consequence of reducing Arctic ice cover: arrival of the Pacific diatom Neodenticula seminae in the North Atlantic for the first time in 800 000 years

Abstract

The Continuous Plankton Recorder survey has monitored plankton

Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities

“…For example, climatic warming is likely to result in the receding of summer Arctic ice cover to provide a seasonal trading route through the northern oceans. This link between the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans would provide access for cold-water species to either ocean [24]. Likewise, the connection of geographically distant basins through waterways to overcome water consumption shortages as a result of climate change or increased irrigation of agricultural lands could also increase the distribution range of present and new invaders [25].…”

Morphological and phylogenetic comparisons ofNeodenticula seminae(Bacillariophyta) populations between the subarctic Pacific and the Gulf of St. Lawrence

“…This created a suitable light environment for phytoplankton growth (Arrigo & van Dijken, 2004), which may have contributed to the transportation of phytoplankton cells, in this case N. seminae, from the subarctic Pacific through the Canadian Archipelago to the Labrador Sea into the North Atlantic, with episodic intrusions of cold surface water from the Labrador Shelf into the Gulf of St. Lawrence . These changes coincided with the reappearance of N. seminae in both the Labrador Sea and the St. Lawrence ecosystem in 1999 (Reid et al, 2007).…”

“…Lovejoy et al (2002) did not report this species in the phytoplankton of northern Baffin Bay either. However, it has been observed from the Labrador Sea since 1999 under the Continuous Plankton Recorder survey monitoring plankton in the Northwest Atlantic (Reid et al, 2007).…”

“…Barrow Strait, Lancaster Sound, Nares Strait, Smith Sound and Jones Sound) and exits into the northern North Atlantic along the west coast of the Labrador Sea (Jones et al, 2003;Reid et al, 2007). In 1998, the Canadian High Arctic experienced an unusually warm year, which contributed to a significant reduction in sea-ice cover and augmentation of the longest sustained period of open water, almost seven months (Arrigo & van Dijken, 2004), and an increasing inflow of Pacific water (Jones et al, 2003).…”

Expedition 323 summary

“…Drilling near the Bering Strait will help resolve whether major changes in Pacific-Atlantic partitioning of oceanographic properties were related to changes in flow through the Bering Sea. Neodenticula seminae, a dominant extant subarctic Pacific diatom, was found recently in Atlantic waters, possibly because recent warming and melting sea ice in the Arctic Ocean provided a passage from the Pacific to the Atlantic (Berard-Therriault et al, 2002;Corbyn, 2007;Reid et al, 2007). This species has been extinct in the Atlantic since 0.8 Ma (Baldauf, 1987), and thus its recent reemergence in the Atlantic appears to be a significant indication that climate change in the Arctic influenced the distribution of this species.…”