Distribution of Arctic and Pacific copepods and their habitat in the northern Bering and Chukchi seas (original) (raw)
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Frontiers in Marine Science, 2020
The Bering Strait is the only gateway to the Chukchi Sea from the Pacific Ocean and is a major route of Pacific water inflow. We recently investigated the occurrence of Pacific copepod species along with the warming of the Chukchi Sea and sought to identify the cause of the mass occurrence these copepods through an analysis of the water masses flowing through the Bering Strait. Zooplankton and Conductivity-Temperature-Depth (CTD) data collection was conducted in the Chukchi Sea and Bering Strait from 2014 to 2016. In addition, mooring systems installed in the Bering Strait were analyzed to obtain water temperature and salinity data during summer to understand the properties of the water masses. In 2015, a high abundance of Pacific copepod species (Eucalanus bungii, Metridia pacifica, and Neocalanus spp.) was observed in Bering Summer Water (BSW), which was relatively warm compared to measurements obtained from 2014 to 2016. As further confirmation, our results were consistent with 2007, 2009, and 2012 data, which showed that the abundance of Pacific copepod species was proportional to the temperature of the BSW entering the Chukchi Sea. In conclusion, we reconfirmed that Pacific copepod species are entering the Chukchi Sea along with BSW, and we newly discovered that their high abundance coincided with the relatively warm BSW, instead of other water masses. These findings suggest that the inflow of the high-temperature BSW (>3 • C) plays an important role in the mass occurrence of Pacific copepod species in the southern Chukchi Sea.
Polar Biology, 2015
The species composition of Arctic zooplankton differs greatly from that of the zooplankton of the North Pacific and Bering Sea. Particularly with greater warming from sea-ice retreat, the reproduction of North Pacific species transported into the Chukchi Sea and beyond may lead to changes in the Arctic pelagic ecosystem. We report the egg production and hatching of the Pacific copepod Neocalanus flemingeri in the Chukchi Sea based on shipboard experiments performed in September 2013. The reproductive capability of N. flemingeri observed in the Chukchi Sea resembled that reported in the Pacific, with the exception of a lower hatching success. Only 7.5 % of N. flemingeri eggs hatched compared with 93 % in Pacific experiments. Low hatching success is considered to be caused by failures of fertilization. The potential recruitment number for N. flemingeri suggests that it is unlikely to establish expatriate Arctic populations in the near future.
Frontiers in Marine Science
A remarkable early sea-ice reduction event was observed in the northern Bering Sea during 2018. In turn, this unusual hydrographic phenomenon affected several marine trophic levels, resulting in delayed phytoplankton blooms, phytoplankton community changes, and a northward shift of fish stocks. However, the response of the zooplankton community remains uncharacterized. Therefore, our study sought to investigate the zooplankton community shifts in the northern Bering Sea during the summers of 2017 and 2018 and evaluate the effects of early sea-ice melt events on the zooplankton community, population structure of large copepods, and copepod production. Five zooplankton communities were identified based on cluster analysis. Further, annual changes in the zooplankton community were identified in the Chirikov Basin. In 2017, the zooplankton community included abundant Pacific copepods transported by the Anadyr water. In 2018, however, the zooplankton community was dominated by small cope...
Polar Science, 2019
In recent years, marine ecosystems have changed due to the drastic sea ice reduction in the Arctic Ocean, but the relationship between copepod phenology and environmental drivers is unclear. To reveal the relationship, seasonal changes in the flux (abundance of swimmers), population structure, lipid accumulation and gonad maturation of four dominant copepods (Calanus hyperboreus, Metridia longa, Paraeuchaeta glacialis and Heterorhabdus norvegicus) were studied using a sediment trap deployed at a depth of 222 m in the Pacific-Arctic sector from October 2010 to September 2013. C. hyperboreus, mostly comprising copepodid stage 6 females (C6F), exhibited several peaks in flux in spring and autumn. C. hyperboreus C6Fs were dominated by lipid-rich specimens year-round, and gonad development was observed in these samples from February to April. The M. longa flux showed no clear seasonality. Gonad maturation of M. longa C6Fs occurred from February to September. P. glacialis flux exhibited two peaks in autumn of 2011 and 2012. In contrast to the former two species, lipid-rich, mature P. glacialis C6Fs occurred year-round. H. norvegicus copepodid stage 6 males (C6Ms) also occurred throughout the year, likely because H. norvegicus has functional feeding appendages, even in C6Ms. From generalized additive models, C. hyperboreus, M. longa and P. glacialis showed relationships with daytime length and/or sea ice concentrations, but the relationship patterns were different. These findings suggest that the response (e.g., vertical migration) to the environmental parameters could vary with species and the drastic sea ice reductions may affect the copepod phenology in the Pacific-Arctic sector.
Horizontal distribution of calanoid copepods in the western Arctic Ocean during the summer of 2008
Polar Science, 2012
The horizontal distribution of the epipelagic zooplankton communities in the western Arctic Ocean was studied during AugusteOctober 2008. Zooplankton abundance and biomass were higher in the Chukchi Sea, and ranged from 3,000 to 274,000 ind. m À2 and 5e678 g WM m À2 , respectively. Copepods were the most dominant taxa and comprised 37À94% of zooplankton abundance. For calanoid copepods, 30 species belonging to 20 genera were identified. Based on the copepod abundance, their communities were classified into three groups using a cluster analysis. The horizontal distribution of each group was well synchronized with depth zones, defined here as Shelf, Slope and Basin. Neritic Pacific copepods were the dominant species in the Shelf zone. Arctic copepods were substantially greater in the Slope zone than the other regions. Mesopelagic copepods were greater in the Basin zone than the other regions. Stage compositions of large-sized Arctic copepods (Calanus glacialis and Metridia longa) were characterized by the dominance of late copepodid stages in the Basin. Both the abundance and stage compositions of large copepods corresponded well with Chl. a concentrations in each region, with high Chl. a in the Shelf and Slope supporting reproduction of copepods resulting in high abundance dominated by early copepodid stages.
Regional comparison of seasonal changes on copepod community structure in the Arctic Ocean
Polar Science, 2020
The Arctic Ocean is characterized as the greatly variable oceanic environment both seasonality and regionally. Such environmental variability would affect regional differences in the respective copepod community structures, though it has not been reported so far. In this study, we analyzed time-series zooplankton samples with focus on large copepods collected by sediment traps moored in three different regions of the Arctic Ocean at approximately 72-260 m water depth, and seasonality of copepod community structures were compared. Remarkable seasonality in the copepod community structure around Molloy deep in the eastern Fram Strait were due to the influence of endemic species transported by the West Spitsbergen Current. In contrast, in the southern Canada Basin (Northwind Abyssal Plain, Hanna Canyon and Barrow Canyon), the community structure of predominant large copepods showed less seasonality due to low primary production. In the MacKenzie Trough, the number of copepod swimmers were greater than those in all other regions investigated, which cooccur with much higher primary production in that area. These spatial differences in seasonality of copepod swimmer community structure were thought to be caused by various factors, not only sea ice seasonality but also differences in current patterns, endemic species and the magnitude of primary production.
Ambio
The changing Arctic environment is affecting zooplankton that support its abundant wildlife. We examined how these changes are influencing a key zooplankton species, Calanus finmarchicus, principally found in the North Atlantic but expatriated to the Arctic. Close to the ice-edge in the Fram Strait, we identified areas that, since the 1980s, are increasingly favourable to C. finmarchicus. Field-sampling revealed part of the population there to be capable of amassing enough reserves to overwinter. Early developmental stages were also present in early summer, suggesting successful local recruitment. This extension to suitable C. finmarchicus habitat is most likely facilitated by the long-term retreat of the ice-edge, allowing phytoplankton to bloom earlier and for longer and through higher temperatures increasing copepod developmental rates. The increased capacity for this species to complete its life-cycle and prosper in the Fram Strait can change community structure, with large cons...
Polar Biology, 2021
The process of climate change by which global temperatures increase and seasonal shifts occur is more pronounced at higher latitudes. These changes induce shifts in the phenology of biota, including zooplankton. Regression analysis revealed significant advance of the spring–summer water warming in the sub-Arctic White Sea (Chupa Inlet, Kandalaksha Bay), which occurs 3 weeks earlier in the last decade compared with 1961. The shift of timing of phenological events of Calanus glacialis, Pseudocalanus spp., Microsetella norvegica, Oithona similis, Acartia spp., Centropages hamatus, and Temora longicornis is particularly pronounced. These shifts were accompanied by a significant increase in Calanus and Microsetella abundance with an observed decrease in Acartia abundance. No correlation between population abundance and year-to-year changes in the species phenology was determined. We propose hypotheses to explain species adaptation to these phenological shifts in the ecosystem: (1) flexib...