Arctic Marine Biodiversity: An Update of Species Richness and Examples of Biodiversity Change

Bluhm, Bodil A.; Gebruk, Andrey; Gradinger, Rolf; Hopcroft, Russell R.; Huettmann, Falk; Kosobokova, Ksenia; Sirenko, Boris I.; Węsławski, Jan Marcin

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2011.75

Cited by 92 publications

(49 citation statements)

References 38 publications

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“…This study and subsequent efforts across the Canadian Arctic contribute to pan-Arctic initiatives, such as the Circumpolar Biodiversity Monitoring Program (CBMP; Gill et al, 2011), that harmonize and integrate efforts toward global monitoring of Arctic marine biota and the effects of climate change. Recent research initiatives have considerably increased our understanding of Arctic marine biodiversity (e.g., Bluhm et al, 2011), but few Arctic studies have investigated megabenthic diversity across continental scales. The present study represents a significant advancement in our knowledge of marine diversity in the Canadian Arctic and provides a baseline against which future changes can be tracked.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Variability of Megabenthic Community Structure across the Canadian Arctic

Roy¹,

Iken²,

Archambault³

2015

ARCTIC

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ABSTRACT. Major climate changes are underway in the Canadian Arctic, but our ability to monitor and predict their impact on faunal community structure is hindered by the lack of baseline diversity data. This study combined megabenthic community data sampled at 78 stations from 2007 to 2011 across the Western and Eastern Canadian Arctic biogeographic units. These large biogeographic units were divided into five geographical regions to provide regional estimates of observed and predicted taxon richness. We did not detect a strong regional difference in benthic community characteristics, observing only a lower richness in the Amundsen Gulf region than in the neighboring Beaufort Sea region. The Amundsen Gulf region had the highest turnover (beta) diversity, coincident with high environmental heterogeneity. The strong and distinctive presence in the Beaufort Sea region of Saduria spp., a euryhaline isopod, demonstrated the particular influence of the Mackenzie River on the community composition of that region. Our analysis showed that in various regions, about 34% to 59% of megabenthic taxa in Canadian Arctic waters are still to be documented. This study provides useful baseline data for both national and pan-Arctic evaluations of benthic diversity in the Arctic Ocean.Key words: Canadian Arctic; benthos; megafauna; richness; community; Beaufort Sea; Amundsen Gulf; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Baffin Bay RÉSUMÉ. Des changements climatiques majeurs sont en cours dans l'Arctique canadien, mais notre capacité à surveiller et à prévoir leurs impacts sur la structure des communautés est entravée par le manque de données de référence sur la diversité. Cette étude combine des données sur les communautés mégabenthiques échantillonnées à 78 stations de 2007 à 2011 à l'intérieur des unités biogéographiques de l'ouest et de l'est de l'Arctique canadien. Ces grandes unités biogéographiques ont été divisées en cinq régions géographiques afin de fournir des estimations régionales de richesse taxonomique observée et prédite. Nous n'avons pas détecté de fortes différences régionales dans les caractéristiques des communautés benthiques. Seule la richesse observée est inférieure dans le golfe d'Amundsen par rapport à la région voisine de la mer de Beaufort. La région du golfe d'Amundsen a la diversité bêta la plus élevée, ce qui coïncide avec une grande hétérogénéité de conditions environnementales. La composition taxonomique de la mer de Beaufort est différente de celle des autres régions. La présence distinctive et forte de Saduria spp., un isopode euryhalin, dans la région de la mer de Beaufort illustre l'influence du fleuve Mackenzie sur la composition taxonomique de cette région. Notre analyse démontre que régionalement, environ 34 % à 59 % des taxa mégabenthiques restent à être répertoriés dans les eaux arctiques canadiennes. Cette étude fournit des données de référence utiles pour les évaluations nationales et panarctiques de la diversité benthique de l'océan Arctique.Mots clés : Arctique canadien; benthos; mégafaune; richesse;...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Regional Variability of Megabenthic Community Structure across the Canadian Arctic

Roy¹,

Iken²,

Archambault³

2015

ARCTIC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…These environmental changes will likely have consequences for the biogeochemistry and ecology of the Arctic pelagic system (e.g., Piepenburg & Bluhm 2009;Weslawski et al 2009;Bluhm et al 2011;Wassmann 2011). Major impacts are expected for species composition, the pelagic food web, elemental and matter fluxes, i.e., carbon sequestering (e.g., Fortier et al 2002;Hirche & Kosobokova 2007;Li et al 2009;Morán et al 2010;Hilligsøe et al 2011;Lalande et al 2011;Engel et al 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Summertime plankton ecology in Fram Strait—a compilation of long- and short-term observations

et al. 2015

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“…New ice-free areas of the Arctic Ocean could result in a pronounced growth of the annual gross primary production (GPP), increased phytoplankton biomass, and a loss of icerich algae communities associated with the low ice sheet surface (Bluhm et al, 2011). Progressive increase of oil and natural gas drilling and transportation over the shelf areas will be escalating the environmental changes of the Arctic marine ecosystems.…”

Section: Arctic Marine Ecosystemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX): towards a holistic understanding of the feedbacks and interactions in the land–atmosphere–ocean–society continuum in the northern Eurasian region

et al. 2016

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Abstract. The northern Eurasian regions and Arctic Ocean will very likely undergo substantial changes during the next decades. The Arctic-boreal natural environments play a crucial role in the global climate via albedo change, carbon sources and sinks as well as atmospheric aerosol production from biogenic volatile organic compounds. Furthermore, it is expected that global trade activities, demographic movement, and use of natural resources will be increasing in the Arctic regions. There is a need for a novel research approach, which not only identifies and tackles the relevant multi-disciplinary research questions, but also is able to make a holistic system analysis of the expected feedbacks. In this paper, we introduce the research agenda of the Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX), a multi-scale, multi-disciplinary and international program started in 2012 (https://www.atm.helsinki.fi/peex/). PEEX sets a research approach by which large-scale research topics are investigated from a system perspective and which aims to fill the key gaps in our understanding of the feedbacks and interactions between the land-atmosphereaquatic-society continuum in the northern Eurasian region. We introduce here the state of the art for the key topics in the PEEX research agenda and present the future prospects of the research, which we see relevant in this context.

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Arctic Marine Biodiversity: An Update of Species Richness and Examples of Biodiversity Change

Cited by 92 publications

References 38 publications

Regional Variability of Megabenthic Community Structure across the Canadian Arctic

Regional Variability of Megabenthic Community Structure across the Canadian Arctic

Summertime plankton ecology in Fram Strait—a compilation of long- and short-term observations

Pan-Eurasian Experiment (PEEX): towards a holistic understanding of the feedbacks and interactions in the land–atmosphere–ocean–society continuum in the northern Eurasian region

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