Ecological Consequences of Sea-Ice Decline

Post, Eric; Bhatt, Uma S.; Bitz, Cecilia M.; Brodie, Jedediah F.; Fulton, Tara L.; Hebblewhite, Mark; Kerby, Jeffrey T.; Kutz, Susan; Stirling, Ian; Walker, Donald A.

doi:10.1126/science.1235225

Cited by 507 publications

(417 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The effect of shrinking sea ice and its associated feedbacks on both Arctic marine and terrestrial ecosystems are currently a matter of intense debate (e.g. [19,42,55,56]. One aspect that remains poorly understood is the effect of climate change for pan-Arctic marine primary production, and different scenarios have been suggested.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle to late Holocene paleoproductivity reconstructions for the western Barents Sea: a model-data comparison

Pathirana

Knies

Felix

et al. 2015

Arktos

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In this study we focus on late Holocene primary productivity (PP) variability in the western Barents Sea and its response to variable sea ice coverage by combining PP reconstructed from several sediment cores with regional PP trends simulated with a well-constrained organic facies model, OF-Mod 3D. We find that modern production rates reconstructed from buried marine organic matter (''bottomup'') resemble simulated export production at 50 m water depth inferred from numerical simulations of surface water PP in a 3D ocean model, SINMOD (''top-down''). Paleoproductivity rates in the northern Barents Sea are more variable and generally higher (30-150 gC m -2 year -1 ) than in the SW Barents Sea region (\75 gC m -2 year -1 ) throughout the last 6000 years BP. In the SW Barents Sea, PP rates and terrestrial organic matter (TOM) supply remain constantly low indicating present-day-like oceanographic conditions with only marginal influence of sea ice related processes during the last 6000 years BP. PP rates in the northern Barents Sea indicate a shift from stable modern-like conditions prior to 2800 BP to denser, more permanent sea ice coverage along the marginal ice zone (MIZ) between 2800 and 1000 years BP and low PP rates. PP rates increase around 1000 years BP indicating a northward shift of the MIZ and accelerated export towards the seabed. During the last 500 years a pronounced decline in PP rates towards the present day indicates reduced annual duration of the MIZ in the area due to global warming. Our results suggest that a combination of first-year ice and higher PP in a warming pan-Arctic may point to a potential Arctic carbon sink while sea ice is still present.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Middle to late Holocene paleoproductivity reconstructions for the western Barents Sea: a model-data comparison

Pathirana

Knies

Felix

et al. 2015

Arktos

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“…There has been a dramatic decrease in the extent, thickness, and volume of Arctic sea ice [Stroeve et al, 2012;Laxon et al, 2013], warming of the Atlantic Water inflow to the Arctic Ocean [Polyakov et al, 2005[Polyakov et al, , 2011Walczowski and Piechura, 2007], increasing freshwater discharge [Peterson et al, 2002] which in turn can increase the supply of terrigenous organic material [Stedmon et al, 2011], as will increased rates of coastal permafrost erosion and thawing [Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, 2005;Vonk et al, 2012]. Additionally, changes in biogeochemical element cycling including rapid increase in Arctic Ocean acidity [AMAP, 2013], occurrence of stratospheric ozone depletions over the Arctic [Manney et al, 2011], and other ongoing changes may have far reaching consequences for the fragile Arctic marine ecosystem [Post et al, 2013].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marine CDOM accumulation during a coastal Arctic mesocosm experiment: No response to elevated pCO₂ levels

et al. 2014

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A large-scale multidisciplinary mesocosm experiment in an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard; 78°56.2′N) was used to study Arctic marine food webs and biogeochemical elements cycling at natural and elevated future carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) levels. At the start of the experiment, marine-derived chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) dominated the CDOM pool. Thus, this experiment constituted a convenient case to study production of autochthonous CDOM, which is typically masked by high levels of CDOM of terrestrial origin in the Arctic Ocean proper. CDOM accumulated during the experiment in line with an increase in bacterial abundance; however, no response was observed to increased pCO 2 levels. Changes in CDOM absorption spectral slopes indicate that bacteria were most likely responsible for the observed CDOM dynamics. Distinct absorption peaks (at~330 and~360 nm) were likely associated with mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs). Due to the experimental setup, MAAs were produced in absence of ultraviolet exposure providing evidence for MAAs to be considered as multipurpose metabolites rather than simple photoprotective compounds. We showed that a small increase in CDOM during the experiment made it a major contributor to total absorption in a range of photosynthetically active radiation (PAR, 400-700 nm) and, therefore, is important for spectral light availability and may be important for photosynthesis and phytoplankton groups composition in a rapidly changing Arctic marine ecosystem.

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“…Shifts in biodiversity can directly and indirectly change species interactions and ecosystem processes resulting in large cascading changes with implications for the entire Arctic ecosystem (Slagstad et al, 2011;Wassman et al, 2011;Ji et al, 2013;Post et al, 2013;Kę dra et al, 2015a) and thus for ecosystem services (e.g., food production in the form of fisheries but also the cultural heritage of hunting practices as well as tourism). As current observations and predictions suggest an icefree Arctic summer likely to occur within the next few decades (Cavalieri and Parkinson, 2012) possible effects of Arctic biodiversity are of critical concern.…”

Section: Arctic Marine Biodiversity: From Individuals To Pan-arcticmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arctic in Rapid Transition: Priorities for the future of marine and coastal research in the Arctic

et al. 2016

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a b s t r a c tUnderstanding and responding to the rapidly occurring environmental changes in the Arctic over the past few decades require new approaches in science. This includes improved collaborations within the scientific community but also enhanced dialogue between scientists and societal stakeholders, especially with Arctic communities. As a contribution to the Third International Conference on Arctic Research Planning (ICARPIII), the Arctic in Rapid Transition (ART) network held an international workshop in France, in October 2014, in order to discuss high-priority requirements for future Arctic marine and coastal research from an early-career scientists (ECS) perspective. The discussion encompassed a variety of research fields, including topics of oceanographic conditions, sea-ice monitoring, marine biodiversity, land-ocean interactions, and geological reconstructions, as well as law and governance issues. Participants of the workshop strongly agreed on the need to enhance interdisciplinarity in order to collect comprehensive knowledge about the modern and past Arctic Ocean's geo-ecological dynamics. Such knowledge enables improved predictions of Arctic developments and provides the basis for elaborate decision-making on future actions under plausible environmental and climate scenarios in the high northern latitudes. Priority research sheets resulting from the workshop's discussions were distributed during the ICARPIII meetings in April 2015 in Japan, and are publicly available online.

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Ecological Consequences of Sea-Ice Decline

Cited by 507 publications

References 49 publications

Middle to late Holocene paleoproductivity reconstructions for the western Barents Sea: a model-data comparison

Middle to late Holocene paleoproductivity reconstructions for the western Barents Sea: a model-data comparison

Marine CDOM accumulation during a coastal Arctic mesocosm experiment: No response to elevated pCO₂ levels

Arctic in Rapid Transition: Priorities for the future of marine and coastal research in the Arctic

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Ecological Consequences of Sea-Ice Decline

Cited by 507 publications

References 49 publications

Middle to late Holocene paleoproductivity reconstructions for the western Barents Sea: a model-data comparison

Middle to late Holocene paleoproductivity reconstructions for the western Barents Sea: a model-data comparison

Marine CDOM accumulation during a coastal Arctic mesocosm experiment: No response to elevated pCO2 levels

Arctic in Rapid Transition: Priorities for the future of marine and coastal research in the Arctic

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Marine CDOM accumulation during a coastal Arctic mesocosm experiment: No response to elevated pCO₂ levels