scholarly journals Spatial distribution of epifaunal communities in the Hudson Bay system

Elem Sci Anth ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Pierrejean ◽  
David G. Babb ◽  
Frédéric Maps ◽  
Christian Nozais ◽  
Philippe Archambault

The seasonal sea ice cover and the massive influx of river runoff into the Hudson Bay System (HBS) of the Canadian Arctic are critical factors influencing biological production and, ultimately, the dynamics and structure of benthic communities in the region. This study provides the most recent survey of epibenthic communities in Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait and explores their relationships with environmental variables, including mean annual primary production and particulate organic carbon in surface water, bottom oceanographic variables, and substrate type. Epibenthic trawl samples were collected at 46 stations, with a total of 380 epibenthic taxa identified, representing 71% of the estimated taxa within the system. Three communities were defined based on biomass and taxonomic composition. Ordination analyses showed them to be associated primarily with substrate type, salinity, and annual primary production. A first community, associated with coarse substrate, was distributed along the coastlines and near the river mouths. This community was characterized by the lowest density and taxonomic richness and the highest biomass of filter and suspension feeders. A second community, composed mostly of deposit feeders and small abundant epibenthic organisms, was associated with soft substrate and distributed in the deepest waters. A third community, associated with mixed substrate and mostly located near polynyas, was characterized by high diversity and biomass, with no clearly dominant taxon. The overall analysis indicated that bottom salinity and surface-water particulate organic carbon content were the main environmental drivers of these epibenthic community patterns. In the face of climate change, projections of increased river inflow and a longer open water season for the HBS could have major impacts on these epibenthic communities, emphasizing a need to continually improve our ability to evaluate and predict shifts in epibenthic richness and distribution.

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (19) ◽  
pp. 5513-5538
Author(s):  
Gaël Many ◽  
Caroline Ulses ◽  
Claude Estournel ◽  
Patrick Marsaleix

Abstract. The Gulf of Lion shelf (GoL, NW Mediterranean) is one of the most productive areas in the Mediterranean Sea. A 3D coupled hydrodynamic–biogeochemical model is used to study the mechanisms that drive the particulate organic carbon (POC) dynamics over the shelf. A set of observations, including temporal series from a coastal station, remote sensing of surface chlorophyll a, and a glider deployment, is used to validate the distribution of physical and biogeochemical variables from the model. The model reproduces the time and spatial evolution of temperature, chlorophyll a, and nitrate concentrations well and shows a clear annual cycle of gross primary production and respiration. We estimate an annual net primary production of ∼ 200 × 104 t C yr−1 at the scale of the shelf. The primary production is marked by a coast-slope increase with maximal values in the eastern region. Our results show that the primary production is favoured by the inputs of nutrients imported from offshore waters, representing 3 and 15 times the inputs of the Rhône in terms of nitrate and phosphate. In addition, the empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition highlights the role of solar radiation anomalies and continental winds that favour upwellings, and inputs of the Rhône River, in annual changes in the net primary production. Annual POC deposition (27 × 104 t C yr−1) represents 13 % of the net primary production. The delivery of terrestrial POC favours the deposition in front of the Rhône mouth, and the mean cyclonic circulation increases the deposition between 30 and 50 m depth from the Rhône prodelta to the west. Mechanisms responsible for POC export (24 × 104 t C yr−1) to the open sea are discussed. The export off the shelf in the western part, from the Cap de Creus to the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon, represents 37 % of the total POC export. Maximum values are obtained during shelf dense water cascading events and marine winds. Considering surface waters only, the POC is mainly exported in the eastern part of the shelf through shelf waters and Rhône inputs, which spread to the Northern Current during favourable continental wind conditions. The GoL shelf appears as an autotrophic ecosystem with a positive net ecosystem production and as a source of POC for the adjacent NW Mediterranean basin. The undergoing and future increase in temperature and stratification induced by climate change could impact the trophic status of the GoL shelf and the carbon export towards the deep basin. It is crucial to develop models to predict and assess these future evolutions.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Abrantes ◽  
P. Cermeño ◽  
C. Lopes ◽  
O. Romero ◽  
L. Matos ◽  
...  

Abstract. Coastal upwelling systems account for approximately half of global ocean primary production and contribute disproportionately to biologically driven carbon sequestration. Diatoms, silica–precipitating microalgae, constitute the dominant phytoplankton in these productive regions, and their abundance and assemblage composition in the sedimentary record is considered one of the best proxies for primary production. The study of the sedimentary diatom abundance (SDA) and total organic carbon content (TOC) in the five most important coastal upwelling systems of the modern ocean (Iberia-Canary, Benguela, Peru-Humboldt, California and Somalia-Oman) reveals a global-scale positive relationship between diatom production and organic carbon burial. The analysis of SDA in conjunction with environmental variables of coastal upwelling systems such as upwelling strength, satellite-derived net primary production and surface water nutrient concentrations shows different relations between SDA and primary production on the regional scale. At the global-scale, SDA appears modulated by the capacity of diatoms to take up silicic acid, which ultimately sets an upper limit to global export production in these ocean regions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 4099-4109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fatima Abrantes ◽  
Pedro Cermeno ◽  
Cristina Lopes ◽  
Oscar Romero ◽  
Lélia Matos ◽  
...  

Abstract. Coastal upwelling systems account for approximately half of global ocean primary production and contribute disproportionately to biologically driven carbon sequestration. Diatoms, silica-precipitating microalgae, constitute the dominant phytoplankton in these productive regions, and their abundance and assemblage composition in the sedimentary record is considered one of the best proxies for primary production. The study of the sedimentary diatom abundance (SDA) and total organic carbon content (TOC) in the five most important coastal upwelling systems of the modern ocean (Iberia–Canary, Benguela, Peru–Humboldt, California, and Somalia–Oman) reveals a global-scale positive relationship between diatom production and organic carbon burial. The analysis of SDA in conjunction with environmental variables of coastal upwelling systems such as upwelling strength, satellite-derived net primary production, and surface water nutrient concentrations shows different relations between SDA and primary production on the regional scale. On the global scale, SDA appears modulated by the capacity of diatoms to take up silicic acid, which ultimately sets an upper limit to global export production in these ocean regions.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caio César Pires de Paula ◽  
Dagmara Sirová ◽  
Hugo Sarmento ◽  
Camila Cesario Fernandes ◽  
Luciano Takeshi Kishi ◽  
...  

AbstractScarce studies on microbial diversity in tropical caves have been published, a subterranean system still neglected from a microbiological point of view. Although most published studies are about temperate caves, usually archaeas and fungi have less attention than bacterial communities. Here, the microbiome structure and composition in a tropical cave system, as well the main environmental drivers, were studied during the wet and dry season. Soil and sediments from three different habitats at the cave (surface, entrance cave and dark zone) were sampled. Samples were characterized (temperature, air and substrate humidity, salinity, pH, nitrogen and organic carbon content, and chemical composition) and the microbiome was assessed by high-throughput sequencing, using amplicon sequencing (16S and ITS). Prokaryotic communities were dominated by Halobacteria, Actinobacteria and Bacilli, while fungal communities showed high abundance of Sordariomycetes. Microbiomes from the cave entrance, where a significantly elevated salinity levels were found, supported up to 63% of Haloarchaea compared to the other habitats studied. Differences in community structure were significant between habitats, but no influence of the season was observed. Main environmental drivers of community assembly included nitrogen and organic carbon content, temperature, and salinity. This is the first report of Halobacteria dominance in cave habitats, where they likely play important roles in nitrogen and phosphorus cycles. The cave entrance had lower diversity, but higher degree of microbial endemism, which characterize it as an important cave ecotone. The prevalence of heterotrophic microbial groups implies trophic structure based on detritivores, particularly in the dark zones. Our study brings new insights on microbiome composition in the underexplored tropical cave habitats.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaël Many ◽  
Caroline Ulses ◽  
Claude Estournel ◽  
Patrick Marsaleix

Abstract. The Gulf of Lion shelf (NW Mediterranean) is one of the most productive areas in the Mediterranean Sea. A 3D coupled hydrodynamic-biogeochemical model is used to study the mechanisms that drive the particulate organic carbon (POC) budget over the shelf. A set of observations, including temporal series from a coastal station, remote sensing of surface chlorophyll-a, and a glider deployment, is used to validate the distribution of physical and biogeochemical variables from the model. The model reproduces well the time and spatial evolution of temperature, chlorophyll, and nitrate concentrations and shows a clear annual cycle of gross primary production and respiration. Knowing the physical and biogeochemical inputs and outputs terms, the annual budget of the POC in the Gulf of Lion is estimated and discussed. We estimate an annual net primary production of ~200 104 tC yr−1 at the scale of the shelf. The primary production is marked by a coast-slope increase with maximal values in the eastern region. Our results show that the primary production is favored by the inputs of nutrients imported from offshore waters, representing 3 and 15 times the inputs of the Rhône in terms of nitrate and phosphate. Besides, the EOFs decomposition highlights the role of solar radiation anomalies and continental winds that favor upwellings, and inputs of the Rhône River, on annual changes in the net primary production. Annual POC deposition (19 104 tC yr−1) represents 10 % of the net primary production. The delivery of terrestrial POC favored the deposition in front of the Rhône mouth and the mean cyclonic circulation increases the deposition between 30 and 50 m depth from the Rhône prodelta to the west. Mechanisms responsible for POC export (24 104 tC yr−1) to the open sea are discussed. The export off the shelf in the western part, from the Cap de Creus to the Lacaze-Duthiers canyon, represented 37 % of the total POC export. Maximum values were obtained during shelf dense water cascading events and marine winds. Considering surface waters only, the POC was mainly exported in the eastern part of the shelf through shelf waters and Rhône inputs, which spread to the Northern Current during favorable continental wind conditions. The Gulf of Lion shelf appears as an autotrophic ecosystem with a positive Net Ecosystem Production and as a source of POC for the adjacent NW Mediterranean basin. The undergoing and future increase in temperature and stratification induced by climate change could impact the trophic status of the GoL shelf and the carbon export towards the deep basin. It is crucial to develop models to predict and assess these future evolutions.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 19579-19626 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bonnet ◽  
H. Berthelot ◽  
K. Turk-Kubo ◽  
S. Fawcett ◽  
E. Rahav ◽  
...  

Abstract. N2 fixation rates were measured daily in large (~ 50 m3) mesocosms deployed in the tropical South West Pacific coastal ocean (New Caledonia) to investigate the spatial and temporal dynamics of diazotrophy and the fate of diazotroph-derived nitrogen (DDN) in a low nutrient, low chlorophyll ecosystem. The mesocosms were intentionally fertilized with ~ 0.8 μM dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) to stimulate diazotrophy. Bulk N2 fixation rates were replicable between the three mesocosms, averaged 18.5 ± 1.1 nmol N L−1 d−1 over the 23 days, and increased by a factor of two during the second half of the experiment (days 15 to 23) to reach 27.3 ± 1.0 nmol N L−1 d−1. These rates are higher than the upper range reported for the global ocean, indicating that the waters surrounding New Caledonia are particularly favourable for N2 fixation. During the 23 days of the experiment, N2 fixation rates were positively correlated with seawater temperature, primary production, bacterial production, standing stocks of particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, and alkaline phosphatase activity, and negatively correlated with DIP concentrations, DIP turnover time, nitrate, and dissolved organic nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations. The fate of DDN was investigated during the bloom of the unicellular diazotroph, UCYN-C, that occurred during the second half of the experiment. Quantification of diazotrophs in the sediment traps indicates that ~ 10 % of UCYN-C from the water column were exported daily to the traps, representing as much as 22.4 ± 5.5 % of the total POC exported at the height of the UCYN-C bloom. This export was mainly due to the aggregation of small (5.7 ± 0.8 μm) UCYN-C cells into large (100–500 μm) aggregates. During the same time period, a DDN transfer experiment based on high-resolution nanometer scale secondary ion mass spectrometry (nanoSIMS) coupled with 15N2 isotopic labelling revealed that 16 ± 6 % of the DDN was released to the dissolved pool and 21 ± 4 % was transferred to non-diazotrophic plankton, mainly picoplankton (18 ± 4 %) followed by diatoms (3 ± 2 %) within 24 h of incubation. This is consistent with the observed dramatic increase in picoplankton and diatom abundances, primary production, bacterial production and standing stocks of particulate organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus during the second half of the experiment in the mesocosms. These results offer insights into the fate of DDN during a bloom of UCYN-C in low nutrient, low chlorophyll ecosystems.


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