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Author Thomas A. Clay, Rocío Joo, Henri Weimerskirch, Richard A. Phillips, Olivier den Ouden, Mathieu Basille, Susana Clusella-Trullas, Jelle D. Assink, Samantha C. Patrick doi  openurl
  Title Sex-specific effects of wind on the flight decisions of a sexually dimorphic soaring bird Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Journal of Animal Ecology Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 89 Issue 8 Pages 1811-1823  
  Keywords biologging foraging behaviour hidden Markov model movement ecology niche specialization optimization sexual segregation wandering albatross  
  Abstract In a highly dynamic airspace, flying animals are predicted to adjust foraging behaviour to variable wind conditions to minimize movement costs. Sexual size dimorphism is widespread in wild animal populations, and for large soaring birds which rely on favourable winds for energy-efficient flight, differences in morphology, wing loading and associated flight capabilities may lead males and females to respond differently to wind. However, the interaction between wind and sex has not been comprehensively tested. We investigated, in a large sexually dimorphic seabird which predominantly uses dynamic soaring flight, whether flight decisions are modulated to variation in winds over extended foraging trips, and whether males and females differ. Using GPS loggers we tracked 385 incubation foraging trips of wandering albatrosses Diomedea exulans, for which males are c. 20% larger than females, from two major populations (Crozet and South Georgia). Hidden Markov models were used to characterize behavioural states—directed flight, area-restricted search (ARS) and resting—and model the probability of transitioning between states in response to wind speed and relative direction, and sex. Wind speed and relative direction were important predictors of state transitioning. Birds were much more likely to take off (i.e. switch from rest to flight) in stronger headwinds, and as wind speeds increased, to be in directed flight rather than ARS. Males from Crozet but not South Georgia experienced stronger winds than females, and males from both populations were more likely to take-off in windier conditions. Albatrosses appear to deploy an energy-saving strategy by modulating taking-off, their most energetically expensive behaviour, to favourable wind conditions. The behaviour of males, which have higher wing loading requiring faster speeds for gliding flight, was influenced to a greater degree by wind than females. As such, our results indicate that variation in flight performance drives sex differences in time–activity budgets and may lead the sexes to exploit regions with different wind regimes.  
  Programme 109  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1365-2656 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8077  
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Author Samantha C. Patrick, Alexandre Corbeau, Denis Réale, Henri Weimerskirch doi  openurl
  Title Coordination in parental effort decreases with age in a long-lived seabird Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Oikos Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 129 Issue 12 Pages 1763-1772  
  Keywords albatrosses biologging foraging bout incubation shift duration life history tradeoffs parental care sexual conflict  
  Abstract Biparental care is widespread in avian species. Individuals may match the contribution of their partner, resulting in equal parental effort, or may exploit their partner, to minimise their own investment. These two hypotheses have received much theoretical and empirical attention in short-lived species, that change mates between seasons. However, in species with persistent pair bonds, where divorce is rare and costly, selective pressures are different, as partners share the value of future reproduction. In such species, coordination has been suggested to be adaptive and to increase early in life, as a consequence of the importance of mate familiarity. However, as birds age, an increase in re-pairing probability occurs in parallel to a decline in their survival probability. At the point when partners no longer share future reproductive success, exploitation of a partner could become adaptive, reducing selection for coordinated effort. As such, we suggest that coordination in parental effort will decline with age in long-lived species. Using incubation bout duration data, estimated from salt-water immersion bio-loggers, deployed on black-browed albatrosses Thalassarche melanophris, we examined the correlation in incubation bout durations for sequential bouts, as a measure of coordination. Our results show that coordination is highest in inexperienced pairs (early in reproductive life) and declines throughout the lifetime of birds. This suggests that both cooperation, indicated by coordinated effort, and conflict over care occurs in this species. We find no change in individual bout duration with increasing breeding experience, and hence no support for the hypothesis that aging leads to changes in individual incubation behaviour. This is, to our knowledge, the first study to demonstrate strong coordination in parental care when pairs share future reproductive success, but a decline in coordination with age, as sexual conflict increases.  
  Programme 109  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1600-0706 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8078  
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Author Philippe Massicotte, Rémi Amiraux, Marie-Pier Amyot, Philippe Archambault, Mathieu Ardyna, Laurent Arnaud, Lise Artigue, Cyril Aubry, Pierre Ayotte, Guislain Bécu, Simon Bélanger, Ronald Benner, Henry C. Bittig, Annick Bricaud, Éric Brossier, Flavienne Bruyant, Laurent Chauvaud, Debra Christiansen-Stowe, Hervé Claustre, Véronique Cornet-Barthaux, Pierre Coupel, Christine Cox, Aurelie Delaforge, Thibaud Dezutter, Céline Dimier, Florent Domine, Francis Dufour, Christiane Dufresne, Dany Dumont, Jens Ehn, Brent Else, Joannie Ferland, Marie-Hélène Forget, Louis Fortier, Martí Galí, Virginie Galindo, Morgane Gallinari, Nicole Garcia, Catherine Gérikas Ribeiro, Margaux Gourdal, Priscilla Gourvil, Clemence Goyens, Pierre-Luc Grondin, Pascal Guillot, Caroline Guilmette, Marie-Noëlle Houssais, Fabien Joux, Léo Lacour, Thomas Lacour, Augustin Lafond, José Lagunas, Catherine Lalande, Julien Laliberté, Simon Lambert-Girard, Jade Larivière, Johann Lavaud, Anita LeBaron, Karine Leblanc, Florence Le Gall, Justine Legras, Mélanie Lemire, Maurice Levasseur, Edouard Leymarie, Aude Leynaert, Adriana Lopes dos Santos, Antonio Lourenço, David Mah, Claudie Marec, Dominique Marie, Nicolas Martin, Constance Marty, Sabine Marty, Guillaume Massé, Atsushi Matsuoka, Lisa Matthes, Brivaela Moriceau, Pierre-Emmanuel Muller, Christopher-John Mundy, Griet Neukermans, Laurent Oziel, Christos Panagiotopoulos, Jean-Jacques Pangrazi, Ghislain Picard, Marc Picheral, France Pinczon du Sel, Nicole Pogorzelec, Ian Probert, Bernard Quéguiner, Patrick Raimbault, Joséphine Ras, Eric Rehm, Erin Reimer, Jean-François Rontani, Søren Rysgaard, Blanche Saint-Béat, Makoto Sampei, Julie Sansoulet, Catherine Schmechtig, Sabine Schmidt, Richard Sempéré, Caroline Sévigny, Yuan Shen, Margot Tragin, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Daniel Vaulot, Gauthier Verin, Frédéric Vivier, Anda Vladoiu, Jeremy Whitehead, Marcel Babin doi  openurl
  Title Green Edge ice camp campaigns: understanding the processes controlling the under-ice Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Earth System Science Data Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 12 Issue 1 Pages 151-176  
  Keywords  
  Abstract

Abstract. The Green Edge initiative was developed to investigate the processes controlling the primary productivity and fate of organic matter produced during the Arctic phytoplankton spring bloom (PSB) and to determine its role in the ecosystem. Two field campaigns were conducted in 2015 and 2016 at an ice camp located on landfast sea ice southeast of Qikiqtarjuaq Island in Baffin Bay (67.4797 N, 63.7895 W). During both expeditions, a large suite of physical, chemical and biological variables was measured beneath a consolidated sea-ice cover from the surface to the bottom (at 360 m depth) to better understand the factors driving the PSB. Key variables, such as conservative temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured at the ice camp. Meteorological and snow-relevant variables were also monitored. Here, we present the results of a joint effort to tidy and standardize the collected datasets, which will facilitate their reuse in other Arctic studies. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.17882/59892 (Massicotte et al., 2019a).

 
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 1866-3508 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8111  
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Author Blanche Saint-Béat, Brian D. Fath, Cyril Aubry, Jonathan Colombet, Julie Dinasquet, Louis Fortier, Virginie Galindo, Pierre-Luc Grondin, Fabien Joux, Catherine Lalande, Mathieu LeBlanc, Patrick Raimbault, Télesphore Sime-Ngando, Jean-Eric Tremblay, Daniel Vaulot, Frédéric Maps, Marcel Babin doi  openurl
  Title Contrasting pelagic ecosystem functioning in eastern and western Baffin Bay revealed by trophic network modeling Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Elementa: science of the anthropocene Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Baffin Bay, located at the Arctic Ocean’s ‘doorstep’, is a heterogeneous environment where a warm and salty eastern current flows northwards in the opposite direction of a cold and relatively fresh Arctic current flowing along the west coast of the bay. This circulation affects the physical and biogeochemical environment on both sides of the bay. The phytoplanktonic species composition is driven by its environment and, in turn, shapes carbon transfer through the planktonic food web. This study aims at determining the effects of such contrasting environments on ecosystem structure and functioning and the consequences for the carbon cycle. Ecological indices calculated from food web flow values provide ecosystem properties that are not accessible by direct in situ measurement. From new biological data gathered during the Green Edge project, we built a planktonic food web model for each side of Baffin Bay, considering several biological processes involved in the carbon cycle, notably in the gravitational, lipid, and microbial carbon pumps. Missing flow values were estimated by linear inverse modeling. Calculated ecological network analysis indices revealed significant differences in the functioning of each ecosystem. The eastern Baffin Bay food web presents a more specialized food web that constrains carbon through specific and efficient pathways, leading to segregation of the microbial loop from the classical grazing chain. In contrast, the western food web showed redundant and shorter pathways that caused a higher carbon export, especially via lipid and microbial pumps, and thus promoted carbon sequestration. Moreover, indirect effects resulting from bottom-up and top-down control impacted pairwise relations between species differently and led to the dominance of mutualism in the eastern food web. These differences in pairwise relations affect the dynamics and evolution of each food web and thus might lead to contrasting responses to ongoing climate change.  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2325-1026 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8113  
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Author Lisa C. Matthes, C. J. Mundy, S. L.-Girard, M. Babin, G. Verin, J. K. Ehn doi  isbn
openurl 
  Title Spatial Heterogeneity as a Key Variable Influencing Spring-Summer Progression in UVR and PAR Transmission Through Arctic Sea Ice Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Frontiers in Marine Science Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 7 Issue Pages 183  
  Keywords  
  Abstract The transmission of ultraviolet (UVR) and photosynthetically available radiation (PAR) through sea ice is a key factor controlling under-ice phytoplankton growth in seasonally ice-covered waters. The increase toward sufficient light levels for positive net photosynthesis occurs concurrently with the sea ice melt progression in late spring when ice surface conditions shift from a relatively homogeneous high-albedo snow cover to a less reflective mosaic of bare ice and melt ponds. Here, we present a detailed dataset on the spatial and temporal progression of transmitted UVR and PAR in relation to changing quantities of snow, sea ice and melt ponds. Data were collected with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) during the GreenEdge landfast sea ice campaign in June–July 2016 in southwestern Baffin Bay. Over the course of melt progression, there was a 10-fold increase in spatially averaged UVR and PAR transmission through the sea ice cover, reaching a maximum transmission of 31% for PAR, 7% for UVB, and 26% for UVA radiation. The depth under the sea ice experiencing spatial variability in light levels due to the influence of surface heterogeneity in snow, white ice and melt pond distributions increased from 7 ± 4 to 20 ± 6 m over our study. Phytoplankton drifting in under-ice surface waters were thus exposed to variations in PAR availability of up to 43%, highlighting the importance to account for spatial heterogeneity in light transmission through melting sea ice. Consequently, we demonstrate that spatial averages of PAR transmission provided more representative light availability estimates to explain under-ice bloom progression relative to single point irradiance measurements during the sea ice melt season. Encouragingly, the strong dichotomy between white ice and melt pond PAR transmittance and surface albedo permitted a very good estimate of spatially averaged light transmission from drone imagery of the surface and point transmittance measurements beneath different ice surface types.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2296-7745 ISBN 2296-7745 Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8114  
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Author Mathieu Ardyna, C. J. Mundy, Matthew M. Mills, Laurent Oziel, Pierre-Luc Grondin, Léo Lacour, Gauthier Verin, Gert van Dijken, Joséphine Ras, Eva Alou-Font, Marcel Babin, Michel Gosselin, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Patrick Raimbault, Philipp Assmy, Marcel Nicolaus, Hervé Claustre, Kevin R. Arrigo doi  openurl
  Title Environmental drivers of under-ice phytoplankton bloom dynamics in the Arctic Ocean Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 30 Pages  
  Keywords  
  Abstract The decline of sea-ice thickness, area, and volume due to the transition from multi-year to first-year sea ice has improved the under-ice light environment for pelagic Arctic ecosystems. One unexpected and direct consequence of this transition, the proliferation of under-ice phytoplankton blooms (UIBs), challenges the paradigm that waters beneath the ice pack harbor little planktonic life. Little is known about the diversity and spatial distribution of UIBs in the Arctic Ocean, or the environmental drivers behind their timing, magnitude, and taxonomic composition. Here, we compiled a unique and comprehensive dataset from seven major research projects in the Arctic Ocean (11 expeditions, covering the spring sea-ice-covered period to summer ice-free conditions) to identify the environmental drivers responsible for initiating and shaping the magnitude and assemblage structure of UIBs. The temporal dynamics behind UIB formation are related to the ways that snow and sea-ice conditions impact the under-ice light field. In particular, the onset of snowmelt significantly increased under-ice light availability (>0.1–0.2 mol photons m–2 d–1), marking the concomitant termination of the sea-ice algal bloom and initiation of UIBs. At the pan-Arctic scale, bloom magnitude (expressed as maximum chlorophyll a concentration) was predicted best by winter water Si(OH)4 and PO43– concentrations, as well as Si(OH)4:NO3– and PO43–:NO3– drawdown ratios, but not NO3– concentration. Two main phytoplankton assemblages dominated UIBs (diatoms or Phaeocystis), driven primarily by the winter nitrate:silicate (NO3–:Si(OH)4) ratio and the under-ice light climate. Phaeocystis co-dominated in low Si(OH)4 (i.e., NO3:Si(OH)4 molar ratios >1) waters, while diatoms contributed the bulk of UIB biomass when Si(OH)4 was high (i.e., NO3:Si(OH)4 molar ratios <1). The implications of such differences in UIB composition could have important ramifications for Arctic biogeochemical cycles, and ultimately impact carbon flow to higher trophic levels and the deep ocean.  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2325-1026 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8115  
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Author Tonya M. Burgers, Jean-Éric Tremblay, Brent G. T. Else, Tim N. Papakyriakou doi  openurl
  Title Estimates of net community production from multiple approaches surrounding the spring ice-edge bloom in Baffin Bay Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Measurements of net community production (NCP) provide an upper constraint on the strength of the oceanic biological pump, the dominant mechanism for removing CO2 from the ocean surface and sequestering it at depth. In this investigation, our objectives were to describe the spatial and temporal variability of NCP associated with the spring ice-edge bloom in Baffin Bay and to identify the key environmental drivers controlling its variability. Using data collected between June 9 and July 10, 2016, we estimated NCP based on (1) underway measurements of surface water oxygen to argon ratios (O2:Ar), (2) underway measurements of the partial pressure of CO2, and (3) seasonal nitrate drawdown from discrete samples. These multiple approaches displayed high NCP (up to 5.7 mol C m–2) in eastern Baffin Bay, associated with modified Atlantic waters, and low NCP (<1 mol C m–2) in the presence of Arctic outflow waters in western Baffin Bay. Arctic outflow waters were characterized by low surface salinities and nitrate concentrations, suggesting that high freshwater content may have limited the nutrient availability of these waters. Different integration depths and timescales associated with each NCP approach were exploited to understand the temporal progression and succession of the bloom, revealing that the bloom was initiated under ice up to 15 days prior to ice retreat and that a large portion of NCP in eastern Baffin Bay (potentially up to 70%) was driven by primary production occurring below the surface-mixed layer.  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2325-1026 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8116  
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Author Julie Sansoulet, Michèle Therrien, Joseph Delgove, Guilhem Pouxviel, Julie Desriac, Noé Sardet, Jean-Paul Vanderlinden doi  isbn
openurl 
  Title An update on Inuit perceptions of their changing environment, Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island, Nunavut) Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages  
  Keywords  
  Abstract The Inuit of Qikiqtaaluk (Baffin Island) have developed a deep respect for their natural environment and are able to report not only changes in weather, ice, and natural resources but also changes in their communities as a result of climate change. The objective of this study was to shed light on how the impacts of climate change are currently perceived in the communities of Kanngiqtugaapik, Pangniqtuuq, and Qikiqtarjuaq. In order to construct a shared knowledge base, we conducted qualitative video interviews and participated in a hunting camp with multigenerational and multigender Inuit hunters and fishers. First, Inuit continue to see the world in which they cohabit with other living things, particularly animals, as a world that they cannot control on their own—a world they must adapt to, passing learning from one generation to the next. Second, they report that changes in the ice have been among the major and most important transformations to have occurred in recent decades. Observations made by these local populations also indicate changes in hunted species, with fewer caribou and narwhal, more birds, insects, and fish, including from more southerly regions, and an uncertainty about polar bear populations. Seal hunting remains stable, and this meat is still the most popular and healthy food, physically and psychologically. Third, sociological and economic changes (e.g., lifestyle change, monetary economies, quotas), in addition to environmental changes (e.g., climate change, species change), have had a significant impact on food harvesting activities as well as food consumption in the region. A final perspective concerns the needs of the Qikiqtaaluk communities to further develop collaboration with scientists. This need for partnership is not only perceived as a scientific necessity but also recognized by Inuit as essential to their communities, with some local leaders ready to work toward a fruitful collaboration.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2325-1026 ISBN 2325-1026 Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8117  
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Author Rémi Amiraux, Christopher Burot, Patricia Bonin, Guillaume Massé, Sophie Guasco, Marcel Babin, Frédéric Vaultier, Jean-François Rontani doi  openurl
  Title Stress factors resulting from the Arctic vernal sea-ice melt: Impact on the viability of bacterial communities associated with sympagic algae Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages  
  Keywords  
  Abstract During sea-ice melt in the Arctic, primary production by sympagic (sea-ice) algae can be exported efficiently to the seabed if sinking rates are rapid and activities of associated heterotrophic bacteria are limited. Salinity stress due to melting ice has been suggested to account for such low bacterial activity. We further tested this hypothesis by analyzing samples of sea ice and sinking particles collected from May 18 to June 29, 2016, in western Baffin Bay as part of the Green Edge project. We applied a method not previously used in polar regions—quantitative PCR coupled to the propidium monoazide DNA-binding method—to evaluate the viability of bacteria associated with sympagic and sinking algae. We also measured cis-trans isomerase activity, known to indicate rapid bacterial response to salinity stress in culture studies, as well as free fatty acids known to be produced by algae as bactericidal compounds. The viability of sympagic-associated bacteria was strong in May (only approximately 10% mortality of total bacteria) and weaker in June (average mortality of 43%; maximum of 75%), with instances of elevated mortality in sinking particle samples across the time series (up to 72%). Short-term stress reflected by cis-trans isomerase activity was observed only in samples of sinking particles collected early in the time series. Following snow melt, however, and saturating levels of photosynthetically active radiation in June, we observed enhanced ice-algal production of bactericidal compounds (free palmitoleic acid; up to 4.8 mg L–1). We thus suggest that protection of sinking sympagic material from bacterial degradation early in a melt season results from low bacterial activity due to salinity stress, while later in the season, algal production of bactericidal compounds induces bacterial mortality. A succession of bacterial stressors during Arctic ice melt helps to explain the efficient export of sea-ice algal material to the seabed.  
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  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2325-1026 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8118  
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Author Gustavo Yunda-Guarin, Thomas A. Brown, Loïc N. Michel, Blanche Saint-Béat, Rémi Amiraux, Christian Nozais, Philippe Archambault doi  openurl
  Title Reliance of deep-sea benthic macrofauna on ice-derived organic matter highlighted by multiple trophic markers during spring in Baffin Bay, Canadian Arctic Type Journal
  Year 2020 Publication Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene Abbreviated Journal  
  Volume 8 Issue 1 Pages  
  Keywords  
  Abstract Benthic organisms depend primarily on seasonal pulses of organic matter from primary producers. In the Arctic, declines in sea ice due to warming climate could lead to changes in this food supply with as yet unknown effects on benthic trophic dynamics. Benthic consumer diets and food web structure were studied in a seasonally ice-covered region of Baffin Bay during spring 2016 at stations ranging in depth from 199 to 2,111 m. We used a novel combination of highly branched isoprenoid (HBI) lipid biomarkers and stable isotope ratios (δ13C, δ15N) to better understand the relationship between the availability of carbon sources in spring on the seafloor and their assimilation and transfer within the benthic food web. Organic carbon from sea ice (sympagic carbon [SC]) was an important food source for benthic consumers. The lipid biomarker analyses revealed a high relative contribution of SC in sediments (mean SC% ± standard deviation [SD] = 86% ± 16.0, n = 17) and in benthic consumer tissues (mean SC% ± SD = 78% ± 19.7, n = 159). We also detected an effect of sea-ice concentration on the relative contribution of SC in sediment and in benthic consumers. Cluster analysis separated the study region into three different zones according to the relative proportions of SC assimilated by benthic macrofauna. We observed variation of the benthic food web between zones, with increases in the width of the ecological niche in zones with less sea-ice concentration, indicating greater diversity of carbon sources assimilated by consumers. In zones with greater sea-ice concentration, the higher availability of SC increased the ecological role that primary consumers play in driving a stronger transfer of nutrients to higher trophic levels. Based on our results, SC is an important energy source for Arctic deep-sea benthos in Baffin Bay, such that changes in spring sea-ice phenology could alter benthic food-web structure.  
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  Series Editor Series Title Abbreviated Series Title  
  Series Volume Series Issue Edition  
  ISSN 2325-1026 ISBN Medium  
  Area (up) Expedition Conference  
  Notes Approved yes  
  Call Number Serial 8119  
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