Sedimentary organic matter sources, benthic consumption and burial in west Spitsbergen fjords – Signs of maturing of Arctic fjordic systems?

Zaborska, Agata; Włodarska‐Kowalczuk, Maria; Legeżyńska, Joanna; Jankowska, Emilia; Winogradow, Aleksandra; Deja, Kajetan

doi:10.1016/j.jmarsys.2016.11.005

Cited by 67 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 66 publications

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“…Compared to northern Norway, C org BR was higher in west Spitsbergen fjords, probably due to high sediment accumulation rates connected to discharge from intensively melting glaciers. In Kongsfjord C org BR calculated for stations visited in this study were higher than those reported from stations located closer to the fjord head (Koziorowska et al, ; Kuliński et al, ; Zaborska et al, ). As one gets closer to a glacier, sediment accumulation rates increase, but C org contents in sediments decline due to lower primary production in turbid waters and dilution of organic material in large mass of mineral particles transported by glacial meltwaters (Figure ).…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

“…Apparently, benthic stocks and activity were controlled by quality rather than quantity of available food. Zaborska et al () compared two localities in west Spitsbergen fjords and found lower macrofaunal CD at a site with organic matter occurring in higher quantity but being more refractory. Significant correlation to Chl a (but not to C org ) was also documented for benthic fluxes in Skagerrak (Ståhl, Tengberg , et al, ) and for SCOC in Arctic seas reviewed by Bourgeois et al () and oligotrophic Aegean Sea (Ståhl et al, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Growing literature on deposition, mineralization, and preservation of C org in fjordic sediments supports the great potential of these systems for long‐term carbon preservation but also points to the large (more than tenfold) variability in carbon burial rates among fjords distributed across temperate and polar regions (from 40° to 80° latitude). Carbon sequestration in a particular fjord depends on local climatic constraints, land‐ocean processes, and terrestrial material inputs, as well as phenology and magnitude of local marine and terrestrial productivity, benthic faunal and microbial activity (bioturbation), and carbon consumption (Cui et al, ; Kuliński et al, ; Smith et al, ; Zaborska et al, ). The depositional and burial processes also vary spatially within fjords, with higher accumulation rates and burial potential close to terrestrial inflow sources (Hinojosa et al, ) and sediment accumulation focused toward the deepest areas due to steep fjord bank slopes (Norði et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organic Carbon Origin, Benthic Faunal Consumption, and Burial in Sediments of Northern Atlantic and Arctic Fjords (60–81°N)

et al. 2019

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Fjords have been recently recognized as hot spots of organic carbon (Corg) sequestration in marine sediments. This study aims to identify regional and local drivers of variability of Corg burial in north Atlantic and Arctic fjords. We provide a comparative quantification of Corg, δ13C, photosynthetic pigments content, benthic biomass, consumption, Corg accumulation, and burial rates in sediments in six fjords (60–81°N). Higher sediment Corg content in southern Norway reflected longer phytoplankton growth season and higher productivity. Higher contributions of terrestrial Corg were noted in temperate/southern Norway (dense land vegetation and high precipitation) and Arctic/Svalbard (glacial erosion) than in subarctic/northern Norway locations. Benthic biomass and carbon consumption were best correlated to δ13C and photosynthetic pigments content indicating control by quality rather than quantity of available food. Benthic faunal consumption did not seem to affect the variability in Corg burial. Regional environmental factors (water temperature and latitude) combined with local factors (Corg, grain size, and pigment concentration) explained 94% of Corg burial variability. Based on the present study and literature data on Corg content, origin, and burial rates, the fjords were classified into four categories: temperate, subarctic, Arctic with glaciers, and Arctic without glaciers. The variability in marine productivity, terrestrial inflows, and carbon sequestration in fjords must be considered for global estimates of their role in blue carbon storage and for building scenarios of future changes in the course of climate warming.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 65%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Organic Carbon Origin, Benthic Faunal Consumption, and Burial in Sediments of Northern Atlantic and Arctic Fjords (60–81°N)

et al. 2019

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“…The insensitivity of the isotopic niche metrics to such changes in feeding traits may result from the relatively homogenous isotopic composition of the sediments in both localities. Neither Zaborska et al () nor Koziorowska et al () reported much variability in the δ 13 C or δ 15 N values along the vertical profiles in sediment cores collected in Spitsbergen fjords. Thus, the total extent of the isotopic niche, mostly defining, in our system, “on what” the community as a whole feeds, remained the same regardless of the strong functional trait diversity (defining “where” and “how” animals forage) differences.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Is the trophic diversity of marine benthic consumers decoupled from taxonomic and functional trait diversity? Isotopic niches of Arctic communities

Włodarska‐Kowalczuk

Aune

Michel

et al. 2019

Limnology & Oceanography

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It is predicted that a diverse array of functional traits in species‐rich assemblages can lead to strong resource partitioning among coexisting species and moderate a wider spectrum of resource use. We compared two benthic communities in an Arctic fjord: a species‐rich community (in an outer basin) and an impoverished community (in a glacially impacted bay) and explored (1) if high species richness was translated into high functional trait richness and (2) if high taxonomic and functional diversity promoted high trophic diversity in terms of resource use (indicated by isotopic niche measures). We documented higher functional trait richness in the outer basin (computed based on traits describing feeding mode, mobility, food source, body size and life habit), but the area occupied by consumers in the δ15N vs. δ13C iso‐space (a proxy for total trophic resource use) did not differ between the two sites. A wide array of functional traits used to acquire food may extend the benthic community trophic niche spatially (where and how animals forage) without impacting the isotopic niche breadth (in this system, mostly reflecting “what animals feed on”) due to the relatively homogenous distribution of isotopic characteristics of detritus pool across vertical scales in marine sediments. Moreover, this trend could indicate that a species‐poor community tends to exploit all the available food items, possibly due to the low food availability for primary consumers in a glacially impacted environment. Communities in glacial bays could therefore be particularly sensitive to future changes in glacial inputs and associated organic matter fluxes.

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“…Moreover, they play an important role in ecosystem functioning due to their diverse life habits, feeding, and reproductive strategies (Fauchald and Jumars 1979;Snelgrove 1997). Polychaete worms influence sedimentary processes by bioturbation, redistribution, mineralization, and burial of organic matter (e.g., Hutchings 1998;Morata et al 2013;Kędra et al 2013;Zaborska et al 2018). Polychaetes have also been proposed as effective surrogates of marine biodiversity, because they are good indicators of both environmental variability and the species richness and distributional patterns of the whole benthic community (Giangrande et al 2005;Włodarska-Kowalczuk and Kȩ dra 2007).…”

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confidence: 99%

Size assessment in polychaete worms—application of morphometric correlations for common North Atlantic taxa

Górska

Gromisz

Włodarska‐Kowalczuk

2019

Limnology & Ocean Methods

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Body size is a basic animal feature that defines its functioning in multispecies assemblages. Polychaetes are numerically dominant components of marine macrobenthos, playing a key role in benthic productivity. They are also the most problematic group regarding body‐size assessments due to common fragmentation of fragile bodies during sample processing that inhibits direct assessments of their size and biomass. Here, we present quantified relationships that allow an estimation of the total‐body length based on morphometric features (widths of thoracic chaetigers) that remain intact after standard macrobenthic sample treatment. The best‐fitted regression equations (p < 0.001, r from 0.41 to 0.99) were selected for 28 polychaete families, six orders, two infraclasses, and one subclass based on the measurements on 3580 complete individuals collected in the North Atlantic (Norwegian and Spitsbergen fjords and continental margin). In Capitellidae, Cirratulidae, Oweniidae, and Trichobranchidae, the shapes of the relationships differed among dominant species/genera, and so, specific formula was proposed. The method has been applied to assess the size spectra of macrozoobenthos based on 18 van Veen grab samples collected at six stations in two Spitsbergen fjords. The percentage contribution of complete individuals in polychaete biomass and abundance in size classes varied between 0% and 43%, with the lowest percentages noted in two dominant families—Cirratulidae and Lumbrineridae. The presented method is likely to be widely applied in studies requiring polychaete individual size assessments (e.g., benthic biomass size spectra, population dynamics, and secondary production).

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Sedimentary organic matter sources, benthic consumption and burial in west Spitsbergen fjords – Signs of maturing of Arctic fjordic systems?

Cited by 67 publications

References 66 publications

Organic Carbon Origin, Benthic Faunal Consumption, and Burial in Sediments of Northern Atlantic and Arctic Fjords (60–81°N)

Organic Carbon Origin, Benthic Faunal Consumption, and Burial in Sediments of Northern Atlantic and Arctic Fjords (60–81°N)

Is the trophic diversity of marine benthic consumers decoupled from taxonomic and functional trait diversity? Isotopic niches of Arctic communities

Size assessment in polychaete worms—application of morphometric correlations for common North Atlantic taxa

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