Journal
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY A-MATHEMATICAL PHYSICAL AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES
Volume 378, Issue 2181, Pages -Publisher
ROYAL SOC
DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2019.0353
Keywords
Arctic; climate change; sclerochronology; pelagic-benthic coupling; match; mismatch hypothesis; bivalve growth
Categories
Funding
- ArcticNet (Network of Centres of Excellence of Canada)
- Canadian Healthy Oceans Network (CHONe)
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
- Quebec-Ocean (Fonds de recherche du Quebec - Nature et technologies)
- MNHN through a 3-year visiting professorship at ISMER-UQAR
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Climate changes in the Arctic may weaken the currently tight pelagic-benthic coupling. In response to decreasing sea ice cover, arctic marine systems are expected to shift from a 'sea-ice algae-benthos' to a 'phytoplankton-zooplankton' dominance. We used mollusc shells as bioarchives and fatty acid trophic markers to estimate the effects of the reduction of sea ice cover on the food exported to the seafloor. Bathyal bivalve Astarte moerchi living at 600m depth in northern Baffin Bay reveals a clear shift in growth variations and Ba/Ca ratios since the late 1970s, which we relate to a change in food availability. Tissue fatty acid compositions show that this species feeds mainly on microalgae exported from the euphotic zone to the seabed. We, therefore, suggest that changes in pelagic-benthic coupling are likely due either to local changes in sea ice dynamics, mediated through bottom-up regulation exerted by sea ice on phytoplankton production, or to a mismatch between phytoplankton bloom and zooplankton grazing due to phenological change. Both possibilities allow a more regular and increased transfer of food to the seabed. This article is part of the theme issue 'The changing Arctic Ocean: consequences for biological communities, biogeochemical processes and ecosystem functioning'.
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