Modeling the impact of declining sea ice on the Arctic marine planktonic ecosystem

View/ Open
Date
2010-10-08Author
Zhang, Jinlun
Concept link
Spitz, Yvette H.
Concept link
Steele, Michael
Concept link
Ashjian, Carin J.
Concept link
Campbell, Robert G.
Concept link
Berline, Leo
Concept link
Matrai, Patricia
Concept link
Metadata
Show full item recordCitable URI
https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4286As published
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JC005387DOI
10.1029/2009JC005387Abstract
We have developed a coupled 3-D pan-Arctic biology/sea ice/ocean model to investigate the impact of declining Arctic sea ice on the marine planktonic ecosystem over 1988–2007. The biophysical model results agree with satellite observations of a generally downward trend in summer sea ice extent during 1988–2007, resulting in an increase in the simulated photosynthetically active radiation (PAR) at the ocean surface and marine primary productivity (PP) in the upper 100 m over open water areas of the Arctic Ocean. The simulated Arctic sea ice thickness has decreased steadily during 1988–2007, leading to an increase in PAR and PP in sea ice-covered areas. The simulated total PAR in all areas of the Arctic Ocean has increased by 43%, from 146 TW in 1988 to 209 TW in 2007; the corresponding total PP has increased by 50%, from 456 Tg C yr−1 in 1988 to 682 Tg C yr−1 in 2007. The simulated PAR and PP increases mainly occur in the seasonally and permanently ice-covered Arctic Ocean. In addition to increasing PAR, the decline in sea ice tends to increase the nutrient availability in the euphotic zone by enhancing air-sea momentum transfer, leading to strengthened upwelling and mixing in the water column and therefore increased nutrient input into the upper ocean layers from below. The increasing nutrient availability also contributes to the increase in the simulated PP, even though significant surface nutrient drawdown in summer is simulated. In conjunction with increasing surface absorption of solar radiation and rising surface air temperature, the increasing surface water temperature in the Arctic Ocean peripheral seas further contributes to the increase in PP. As PP has increased, so has the simulated biomass of phytoplankton and zooplankton.
Description
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research 115 (2010): C10015, doi:10.1029/2009JC005387.
Collections
Suggested Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research 115 (2010): C10015Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Ecosystem feedbacks and cascade processes : understanding their role in the responses of Arctic and alpine ecosystems to environmental change
Wookey, Philip A.; Aerts, Rien; Bardgett, Richard D.; Baptist, Florence; Bråthen, Kari Anne; Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.; Gough, Laura; Hartley, Iain P.; Hopkins, David W.; Lavorel, Sandra; Shaver, Gaius R. (2008-09-11)Global environmental change, related to climate change and the deposition of airborne N-containing contaminants, has already resulted in shifts in plant community composition among plant functional types in arctic and ... -
Ecosystem responses to climate change at a Low Arctic and a High Arctic long-term research site
Hobbie, John E.; Shaver, Gaius R.; Rastetter, Edward B.; Cherry, Jessica E.; Goetz, Scott J.; Guay, Kevin C.; Gould, William A.; Kling, George W. (Springer, 2017-01-23)Long-term measurements of ecological effects of warming are often not statistically significant because of annual variability or signal noise. These are reduced in indicators that filter or reduce the noise around the ... -
Recent Arctic climate change and its remote forcing of Northwest Atlantic shelf ecosystems
Greene, Charles H.; Monger, Bruce C.; McGarry, Louise P.; Connelly, Matthew D.; Schnepf, Neesha R.; Pershing, Andrew J.; Belkin, Igor M.; Fratantoni, Paula S.; Mountain, David G.; Pickart, Robert S.; Ji, Rubao; Bisagni, James J.; Chen, Changsheng; Hakkinen, Sirpa M. A.; Haidvogel, Dale B.; Wang, Jia; Head, Erica; Smith, Peter; Conversi, Alessandra (The Oceanography Society, 2012-09)During recent decades, historically unprecedented changes have been observed in the Arctic as climate warming has increased precipitation, river discharge, and glacial as well as sea-ice melting. Additionally, shifts in ...