scholarly journals Reliance of deep-sea benthic macrofauna on ice-derived organic matter highlighted by multiple trophic markers during spring in Baffin Bay, Canadian Arctic

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Yunda-Guarin ◽  
Thomas A. Brown ◽  
Loïc N. Michel ◽  
Blanche Saint-Béat ◽  
Rémi Amiraux ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Benthic Food Web ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Ice Concentration ◽  
Benthic Food

Benthic organisms depend primarily on seasonal pulses of organic matter from primary producers. In the Arctic, declines in sea ice due to warming climate could lead to changes in this food supply with as yet unknown effects on benthic trophic dynamics. Benthic consumer diets and food web structure were studied in a seasonally ice-covered region of Baffin Bay during spring 2016 at stations ranging in depth from 199 to 2,111 m. We used a novel combination of highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipid biomarkers and stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N) to better understand the relationship between the availability of carbon sources in spring on the seafloor and their assimilation and transfer within the benthic food web. Organic carbon from sea ice (sympagic carbon [SC]) was an important food source for benthic consumers. The lipid biomarker analyses revealed a high relative contribution of SC in sediments (mean SC% ± standard deviation [SD] = 86% ± 16.0, n = 17) and in benthic consumer tissues (mean SC% ± SD = 78% ± 19.7, n = 159). We also detected an effect of sea-ice concentration on the relative contribution of SC in sediment and in benthic consumers. Cluster analysis separated the study region into three different zones according to the relative proportions of SC assimilated by benthic macrofauna. We observed variation of the benthic food web between zones, with increases in the width of the ecological niche in zones with less sea-ice concentration, indicating greater diversity of carbon sources assimilated by consumers. In zones with greater sea-ice concentration, the higher availability of SC increased the ecological role that primary consumers play in driving a stronger transfer of nutrients to higher trophic levels. Based on our results, SC is an important energy source for Arctic deep-sea benthos in Baffin Bay, such that changes in spring sea-ice phenology could alter benthic food-web structure.

Benthic food-web structure of an Arctic fjord (Kongsfjorden, Svalbard)

2010 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul E. Renaud ◽  
Michael Tessmann ◽  
Anita Evenset ◽  
Guttorm N. Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Benthic Food Web ◽  
Web Structure ◽  
Arctic Fjord ◽  
Benthic Food

scholarly journals Food web structure of the epibenthic community at the sea ice edge in Baffin Bay, Canada

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Yunda-Guarin ◽  
Philippe Archambault ◽  
Guillaume Massé ◽  
Christian Nozais
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Ice Edge ◽  
Sea Ice Edge

In polar areas, the pelagic-benthic coupling plays a fundamental role in ensuring organic matter flow across depths and trophic levels. Climate change impacts the Arctic’s physical environment and ecosystem functioning, affecting the sequestration of carbon, the structure and efficiency of the benthic food web and its resilience.In the Arctic Ocean, highest atmospheric warming tendencies (by ~0.5°C) occur in the east of Baffin Bay making this area an ideal site to study the effects of climate change on benthic communities. We sampled epibenthic organisms at 13 stations bordering the sea ice between June and July 2016. The epibenthic taxonomic composition was identified and grouped by feeding guilds. Isotopic signatures (δ13C - δ15N), trophic levels and trophic separation and redundancy were measured and quantified at each station. In the light of the results obtained, the stability of the benthic community in the Baffin Bay at the sea ice edge is discussed.

scholarly journals Food web structure of the epibenthic community at the sea ice edge in Baffin Bay, Canada

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Yunda-Guarin ◽  
Philippe Archambault ◽  
Guillaume Massé ◽  
Christian Nozais
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Sea Ice ◽  
Food Web ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Feeding Guilds ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Ice Edge ◽  
Sea Ice Edge

In polar areas, the pelagic-benthic coupling plays a fundamental role in ensuring organic matter flow across depths and trophic levels. Climate change impacts the Arctic’s physical environment and ecosystem functioning, affecting the sequestration of carbon, the structure and efficiency of the benthic food web and its resilience.In the Arctic Ocean, highest atmospheric warming tendencies (by ~0.5°C) occur in the east of Baffin Bay making this area an ideal site to study the effects of climate change on benthic communities. We sampled epibenthic organisms at 13 stations bordering the sea ice between June and July 2016. The epibenthic taxonomic composition was identified and grouped by feeding guilds. Isotopic signatures (δ13C - δ15N), trophic levels and trophic separation and redundancy were measured and quantified at each station. In the light of the results obtained, the stability of the benthic community in the Baffin Bay at the sea ice edge is discussed.

Modification of benthic food web structure by recovering seagrass meadows, as revealed by trophic markers and mixing models

2018 ◽  
Vol 90 ◽  
pp. 28-37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emilia Jankowska ◽  
Marleen De Troch ◽  
Loïc N. Michel ◽  
Gilles Lepoint ◽  
Maria Włodarska-Kowalczuk
Keyword(s):  
Food Web ◽  
Mixing Models ◽  
Food Web Structure ◽  
Benthic Food Web ◽  
Seagrass Meadows ◽  
Web Structure ◽  
Benthic Food ◽  
Trophic Markers

Seasonal detections of bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus) vocalizations in Baffin Bay and Davis Strait in relation to sea ice concentration

Polar Biology ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (10) ◽  
pp. 1493-1502
Author(s):  
Tenna K. Boye ◽  
Malene J. Simon ◽  
Kristin L. Laidre ◽  
Frank Rigét ◽  
Kathleen M. Stafford
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Bearded Seal ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Ice Concentration ◽  
Erignathus Barbatus ◽  
Davis Strait

scholarly journals Coastal ice-core record of recent northwest Greenland temperature and sea-ice concentration

2015 ◽  
Vol 61 (230) ◽  
pp. 1137-1146 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erich C. Osterberg ◽  
Robert L. Hawley ◽  
Gifford Wong ◽  
Ben Kopec ◽  
David Ferris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
Ice Core ◽  
Methanesulfonic Acid ◽  
Ice Cores ◽  
Snow Accumulation ◽  
Multilinear Regression ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
Ice Concentration

AbstractCoastal ice cores provide an opportunity to investigate regional climate and sea-ice variability in the past to complement hemispheric-scale climate reconstructions from ice-sheet-interior ice cores. Here we describe robust proxies of Baffin Bay temperature and sea-ice concentration from the coastal 2Barrel ice core collected in the Thule region of northwest Greenland. Over the 1990–2010 record, 2Barrel annually averaged methanesulfonic acid (MSA) concentrations are significantly correlated with May–June Baffin Bay sea-ice concentrations and summer temperatures. Higher MSA is observed during warmer years with less sea ice, indicative of enhanced primary productivity in Baffin Bay. Similarly, 2Barrel annually averaged deuterium excess (d-excess) values are significantly correlated with annual Baffin Bay sea-ice concentrations and summer and annual temperatures. Warm (cool) years with anomalously low (high) sea-ice concentration are associated with proportionally more (less) low-d-excess Baffin Bay moisture at the ice-core site. Multilinear regression models incorporating 2Barrel MSA, d-excess and snow accumulation account for 38–51% of the Baffin Bay sea-ice and temperature variance. The annual temperature model is significantly correlated with temperatures throughout most of Greenland and eastern Arctic Canada due to the strong influence of the North Atlantic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation.

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