Climate and Arctic Ocean pelagic ecosystems

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Earth's climate is warming and the sea-ice cover of the Arctic Ocean and its ancillary seas is shrinking spectacularly. By 2030 the immense arctic continental shelves (six millions km2) could be ice-free in summer for the first time in 14 million years. Comparing present-day arctic and boreal marine fauna clearly indicates that such a shift from permanent to seasonal ice cover will have formidable impacts on the services provided by arctic marine ecosystems. The overarching objective of the proposed research program is to inform the policies, decisions, and strategies that will help arctic stakeholders (Inuit, governments, private sector) adapt to, and benefit from the expected changes in ecosystem services. Towards this objective, the proposed research program will further document the response of key elements of the arctic pelagic ecosystems to a reduction in ice cover, the lengthening of the ice-free season, and the warming of the surface layer of the coastal Arctic Ocean. Three major themes will be addressed: (1) the population dynamics of planktonic copepods that feed the small Arctic cod, which in turn is the main food of the seals, whales, and marine birds of the Arctic Ocean; (2) climate-related decadal variations and change in the hatching season, feeding, and growth of larval Arctic cod; and (3) the spatio-temporal distribution and stock structure of juvenile and adult Arctic cod.