Variable habitat depth of the planktonic foraminifera <i>Neogloboquadrina pachyderma</i> in the northern high latitudes explained by sea-ice and chlorophyll concentration
Abstract. Neogloboquadrina pachyderma is the dominant species in the polar regions. In the northern high latitude ocean, it makes up more than 90 % of the total planktonic foraminifera assemblages, making it the dominant pelagic calcifier and carrier of paleoceanographic proxies. To assess the reaction of this species to future climate change and to be able to interpret the paleoecological signal contained in its shells, its habitat depth must be known. Previous work showed that N. pachyderma in the northern polar regions has a highly variable depth habitat, ranging from the surface mixed layer to several hundreds of metres below the surface, and the origin of this variability remained unclear. In order to investigate the factors controlling the habitat depth of N. pachyderma, we compiled new and existing population density profiles from 104 stratified plankton tow hauls collected in the Arctic and the North Atlantic Oceans during 14 oceanographic expeditions. For each vertical profile, the Depth Habitat (DH) was calculated as the abundance-weighted mean depth of occurrence. We then tested to what degree environmental factors (mixed layer depth, sea surface temperature, sea surface salinity, Chlorophyll a concentration and sea ice concentration) and ecological factors (synchronised reproduction and daily vertical migration) can predict the observed DH variability and compared the observed DH behaviour with simulations by a numerical model predicting planktonic foraminifera distribution. Our data show that the DH of N. pachyderma varies between 25 m and 280 m (average ~ 100 m). In contrast with the model simulations, which indicate that DH is associated with the depth of chlorophyll maximum, our analysis indicates that the presence of sea-ice together with the concentration of chlorophyll at the surface have the strongest influence on the vertical habitat of this species. N. pachyderma occurs deeper when sea-ice and chlorophyll concentrations are low, suggesting a time transgressive response to the evolution of (near) surface conditions during the annual cycle. Since only surface parameters appear to affect the vertical habitat of N. pachyderma, light or light-dependant processes might influence the ecology of this species. Our results can be used to improve predictions of the response of the species to climate change and thus to refine paleoclimatic reconstructions.