Where's my dinner? Do Arctic benthic communities show preferential food uptake?

由于全球气候变暖，北极正在迅速发生变化，海冰覆盖面积的减少是最明显的迹象。然而，海冰的减少对水柱和海底生态的影响还不太确定。不断变化的自然条件可能会影响冰藻和中上层初级生产的时间、数量和分布（1,2），而对支持中上层和底栖生物消费者的营养途径的影响尚未确定(3)。最近资助的NERC北极奖项目（季节性冰带的北极生产力）旨在确定这些海冰变化将如何影响这个气候敏感地区的生物和生物地球化学系统。

The Arctic is changing rapidly in response to a warming global climate, with a reduction in sea-ice coverage providing the most obvious indicator. However, the impact of this reduction in sea- ice on water column and seafloor ecology is much less certain. Changing physical conditions potentially impacts on the timing, magnitude and distribution of both ice algae and pelagic primary production(1,2) with as yet unresolved effects on trophic pathways which support both pelagic and benthic consumers(3). The recently funded NERC Arctic PRIZE project (Arctic PRoductivity in the seasonal Ice ZonE) aims to determine how these sea ice changes will affect biological and biogeochemical systems in this climatically-sensitive region.