Faculty Opinions recommendation of Keystone predators govern the pathway and pace of climate impacts in a subarctic marine ecosystem.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Hay
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Keystone Predators

scholarly journals Keystone predators govern the pathway and pace of climate impacts in a subarctic marine ecosystem

Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 369 (6509) ◽  
pp. 1351-1354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas B. Rasher ◽  
Robert S. Steneck ◽  
Jochen Halfar ◽  
Kristy J. Kroeker ◽  
Justin B. Ries ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Interactive Effects ◽  
Kelp Forests ◽  
Enhydra Lutris ◽  
Sea Otters ◽  
Historical Reconstructions ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Structural Base ◽  
Keystone Predators

Predator loss and climate change are hallmarks of the Anthropocene yet their interactive effects are largely unknown. Here, we show that massive calcareous reefs, built slowly by the alga Clathromorphum nereostratum over centuries to millennia, are now declining because of the emerging interplay between these two processes. Such reefs, the structural base of Aleutian kelp forests, are rapidly eroding because of overgrazing by herbivores. Historical reconstructions and experiments reveal that overgrazing was initiated by the loss of sea otters, Enhydra lutris (which gave rise to herbivores capable of causing bioerosion), and then accelerated with ocean warming and acidification (which increased per capita lethal grazing by 34 to 60% compared with preindustrial times). Thus, keystone predators can mediate the ways in which climate effects emerge in nature and the pace with which they alter ecosystems.

scholarly journals Hemispheric asymmetry in ocean change and the productivity of ecosystem sentinels

Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 372 (6545) ◽  
pp. 980-983
Author(s):  
W. J. Sydeman ◽  
D. S. Schoeman ◽  
S. A. Thompson ◽  
B. A. Hoover ◽  
M. García-Reyes ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hemispheric Asymmetry ◽  
Human Impacts ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Climate Impacts ◽  
Ecosystem Change ◽  
Hemispheric Differences ◽  
The North ◽  
Ocean Management ◽  
Management Approaches ◽  
Lower Magnitude

Climate change and other human activities are causing profound effects on marine ecosystem productivity. We show that the breeding success of seabirds is tracking hemispheric differences in ocean warming and human impacts, with the strongest effects on fish-eating, surface-foraging species in the north. Hemispheric asymmetry suggests the need for ocean management at hemispheric scales. For the north, tactical, climate-based recovery plans for forage fish resources are needed to recover seabird breeding productivity. In the south, lower-magnitude change in seabird productivity presents opportunities for strategic management approaches such as large marine protected areas to sustain food webs and maintain predator productivity. Global monitoring of seabird productivity enables the detection of ecosystem change in remote regions and contributes to our understanding of marine climate impacts on ecosystems.

Spatial and temporal dynamics of Pacific capelin Mallotus catervarius in the Gulf of Alaska: implications for ecosystem-based fisheries management

2020 ◽  
Vol 637 ◽  
pp. 117-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
DW McGowan ◽  
ED Goldstein ◽  
ML Arimitsu ◽  
AL Deary ◽  
O Ormseth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Gulf Of Alaska ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Important Species ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Spawning Areas ◽  
Spatio Temporal

Pacific capelin Mallotus catervarius are planktivorous small pelagic fish that serve an intermediate trophic role in marine food webs. Due to the lack of a directed fishery or monitoring of capelin in the Northeast Pacific, limited information is available on their distribution and abundance, and how spatio-temporal fluctuations in capelin density affect their availability as prey. To provide information on life history, spatial patterns, and population dynamics of capelin in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), we modeled distributions of spawning habitat and larval dispersal, and synthesized spatially indexed data from multiple independent sources from 1996 to 2016. Potential capelin spawning areas were broadly distributed across the GOA. Models of larval drift show the GOA’s advective circulation patterns disperse capelin larvae over the continental shelf and upper slope, indicating potential connections between spawning areas and observed offshore distributions that are influenced by the location and timing of spawning. Spatial overlap in composite distributions of larval and age-1+ fish was used to identify core areas where capelin consistently occur and concentrate. Capelin primarily occupy shelf waters near the Kodiak Archipelago, and are patchily distributed across the GOA shelf and inshore waters. Interannual variations in abundance along with spatio-temporal differences in density indicate that the availability of capelin to predators and monitoring surveys is highly variable in the GOA. We demonstrate that the limitations of individual data series can be compensated for by integrating multiple data sources to monitor fluctuations in distributions and abundance trends of an ecologically important species across a large marine ecosystem.

Climate Impacts on Energy Systems

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Ebinger ◽  
Walter Vergara
Keyword(s):  
Energy Systems ◽  
Climate Impacts

ATMOSPHERIC N DEPOSITION TO THE COASTAL AREA OF THE BLACK SEA: SOURCES, INTRA-ANNUAL VARIATIONS AND IMPORTANCE FOR BIOGEOCHEMISTRY AND PRODUCTIVITY OF THE SURFACE LAYER

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Varenik ◽  
Alla Varenik ◽  
Sergey Konovalov ◽  
Sergey Konovalov
Keyword(s):  
Primary Production ◽  
Black Sea ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
C:N Ratio ◽  
N Deposition ◽  
Local Source ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Coastal Zones ◽  
Atmospheric N Deposition ◽  
Urban Location

Atmospheric precipitations can be an important source of nutrients to open and coastal zones of marine ecosystem. Jickells [1] has published that atmospheric depositions can sup-port 5-25% of nitrogen required to primary production. Bulk atmospheric precipitations have been collected in a rural location at the Black Sea Crimean coast – Katsiveli settlement, and an urban location – Sevastopol city. Samples have been analyzed for inorganic fixed nitrogen (IFN) – nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium. Deposi-tions have been calculated at various space and time scales. The monthly volume weighted mean concentration of IFN increases from summer to winter in both locations. A significant local source of IFN has been revealed for the urban location and this source and its spatial influence have been quantified. IFN deposition with atmospheric precipitations is up to 5% of its background content in the upper 10 m layer of water at the north-western shelf of the Black Sea. Considering Redfield C:N ratio (106:16) and the rate of primary production (PP) in coastal areas of the Black Sea of about 100-130 g C m-2 year-1 we have assessed that average atmospheric IFN depositions may intensify primary production by 4.5% for rural locations, but this value is increased many-fold in urban locations due to local IFN sources.

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