NI: Benthos of the Arctic as a Storage reservoir for sea-Ice Carbon

自20世纪70年代末开始卫星测量以来，北冰洋的海冰面积一直在稳步下降。海冰支持冰藻的生长，冰藻是北极碳循环的基本组成部分，为北极动物提供食物。当每年春天海冰融化时，冰藻被释放到水中，在那里它们要么被远洋动物吃掉，要么沉入海底。准确了解这种重要的富含能源的碳资源的这些途径是一项重大的科学挑战，是了解北极生态系统未来的关键。然而，直到最近，由于将海冰碳与其他类似碳源（如浮游植物）区分开来的挑战，这还不可能实现。在过去三年中克服了这些挑战后，现在有可能明确地追踪海冰衍生碳的途径。因此，最近的研究结果表明，北极动物体内全年都可以发现海冰产生的碳。这被认为是因为多余的（在下沉过程中没有被消耗掉的）海冰产生的碳也可以被“储存”在沉积物中，在那里它可以全年作为动物的食物来源。因此，如果这个想法是正确的，我们目前对海冰碳在生态系统中所起作用的假设严重低估了它的重要性。该项目将汇集英国、加拿大和美国科学家的专业知识，建立一个新的合作伙伴关系，以评估海底（如岩石、沙子、泥浆、淤泥）是否可以作为北极海冰衍生初级产品的“储存库”，供海洋动物食用。项目目标的完成依赖于Brown团队中已建立的（Mundy）和新的（Iken）之间的合作。我们将在哈德逊湾（努纳武特）西北部的南安普敦岛周围的海洋区域进行研究，该区域包括加拿大最大的北极海洋哺乳动物夏季和冬季聚集区之一。通过与加拿大资助的研究项目共享资源，我们将访问一个独特的野外站点，收集主要的初步数据，以提高对生态系统结构和功能的理解。我们的发现将与整个北极地区相关，因此将在国际范围内激发新的研究兴趣。

Sea ice extent in the Arctic Ocean has seen a steady decline since satellite-borne measurements began in the late 1970s. Sea ice supports the growth of ice algae, a fundamental component of the Arctic carbon cycle, providing food to Arctic animals. When sea ice melts every spring, ice algae are released to the water where they are either consumed by pelagic animals, or sink to the seafloor. Gaining an accurate understanding of these pathways for this important energy rich carbon resource represents a major scientific challenge that holds the key to understanding the future of Arctic ecosystems. However, until recently, this has not been possible because of the challenges associated with distinguishing sea ice carbon from other similar sources of carbon, such as phytoplankton. Having recently overcome these challenges in the last 3 years, it is now possible to unambiguously trace the pathway of sea ice-derived carbon. Recent findings have therefore shown that sea ice-derived carbon can be found in Arctic animals year-round. This is believed to be because excess (not consumed during sinking) sea ice-derived carbon that sinks can also become 'stored' within sediments where it can remain available as a food source to animals year-round. Consequently, if this idea is correct, our present assumption of the role sea ice carbon plays in the ecosystem is severely underestimating its importance.This project will bring together the expertise of British, Canadian and American scientists in a new collaborative partnership to assess whether the seafloor (e.g. rock, sand, mud, silt) acts as a 'store' of Arctic sea ice-derived primary production that can be considered available for marine animals to consume. Completion of the project aims relies upon collaboration between Brown's established (Mundy) and new (Iken) links within the assembled team. We will carry out studies on the marine region around Southampton Island, northwest Hudson Bay (Nunavut) which encompasses one of Canada's largest summer and winter aggregations of Arctic marine mammals. By sharing resources with a funded Canadian research project we will access a unique field site to collect primary preliminary data to improve understanding of ecosystem structure and function. Our findings will be relevant to the whole Arctic region and so will stimulate new research interests on an international scale.