Biogeographic responses of the copepod Calanus glacialis to a changing Arctic marine environment
Authored by Rubao Ji, Zhixuan Feng, Jinlun Zhang, Carin Ashjian, Robert Campbell
Date Published: 2018
DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13890
Sponsors:
United States National Science Foundation (NSF)
National Science Foundation Arctic System Science (ARCSS)
Platforms:
No platforms listed
Model Documentation:
Other Narrative
Model Code URLs:
Model code not found
Abstract
Dramatic changes have occurred in the Arctic Ocean over the past few
decades, especially in terms of sea ice loss and ocean warming. Those
environmental changes may modify the planktonic ecosystem with changes
from lower to upper trophic levels. This study aimed to understand how
the biogeographic distribution of a crucial endemic copepod species,
Calanus glacialis, may respond to both abiotic (ocean temperature) and
biotic (phytoplankton prey) drivers. A copepod individual-based model
coupled to an ice-ocean-biogeochemical model was utilized to simulate
temperature-and food-dependent life cycle development of C. glacialis
annually from 1980 to 2014. Over the 35-year study period, the northern
boundaries of modeled diapausing C. glacialis expanded poleward and the
annual success rates of C. glacialis individuals attaining diapause in a
circumpolar transition zone increased substantially. Those patterns
could be explained by a lengthening growth season (during which time
food is ample) and shortening critical development time (the period from
the first feeding stage N3 to the diapausing stage C4). The
biogeographic changes were further linked to large-scale oceanic
processes, particularly diminishing sea ice cover, upper ocean warming,
and increasing and prolonging food availability, which could have
potential consequences to the entire Arctic shelf/slope marine
ecosystems.
Tags
Climate change
biogeography
Climate-change
Life-history
Individual-based
model
Diel vertical migration
Long-term changes
Marine ecosystem
Bering-sea
Copepod
Chukchi sea
Ocean warming
Food quality
Arctic ocean
Poleward range shift
Sea-ice loss
Zooplankton communities
Phytoplankton
blooms