Physical and biological controls of primary production in the ice-covered Canadian Arctic marine system

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Polar marine ecosystems will undergo change associated with a warming climate. In particular, the Arctic ice-covered marine environment is undergoing unprecedented changes with recent accelerated declines in sea ice cover and changes to water mass characteristics and distribution. Understanding the timing and controls of ice-covered primary production is of critical importance to better predict how the ecosystem will respond to the rapidly changing environment. Therefore, the long-term goal of my research program is to obtain a comprehensive understanding of processes controlling Arctic marine primary production in the ice-covered ecosystem. Over the next 5 years, I propose to undertake field-based process and experimental studies to help meet my NSERC Discovery grant objectives which can be summarized as: (1) to develop new non-invasive measurement techniques to better observe the temporal progression and spatial variability of algal absorption, biomass, production, and physiology in the ice-covered ecosystem, and (2) to investigate physical and biological processes that control algal production, accumulation and loss in sea ice, melt water, and underlying water column. Landfast sea ice found in the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago provides the perfect natural laboratory to undertake process studies required to meet these summarized objectives. In particular, landfast ice remains in the vicinity of Resolute Passage long into the melt season providing a platform to study processes from the winter-spring transition through to ice break-up. Through my proposed research program, my team and I (including 5 B.Sc., 2 M.Sc. and 3 Ph.D. students over the grant's tenure) will increase our knowledge on physical and biological controls of primary production in the ice-covered ecosystem, develop new observational techniques, fuel novel ideas, fill knowledge gaps, and improve our capability to model the ecosystem. A declining ice cover, expectation of increased shipping traffic, and political pressure for an increased understanding of our North highlight the importance of the work described above.