A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape
Abstract A gigantic light experiment is taking place in the Arctic. Climate change has led to substantial reductions in sea ice extent and thickness in the Arctic Ocean. Sea ice, particularly when snow covered, acts as a lid hindering light to reach the waters underneath. Less ice will therefore mea...
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2015
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv129 http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/72/9/2532/31226399/fsv129.pdf |
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croxfordunivpr:10.1093/icesjms/fsv129 2024-05-19T07:34:20+00:00 A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape Varpe, Øystein Daase, Malin Kristiansen, Trond 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv129 http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/72/9/2532/31226399/fsv129.pdf en eng Oxford University Press (OUP) ICES Journal of Marine Science volume 72, issue 9, page 2532-2538 ISSN 1095-9289 1054-3139 journal-article 2015 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv129 2024-05-02T09:31:53Z Abstract A gigantic light experiment is taking place in the Arctic. Climate change has led to substantial reductions in sea ice extent and thickness in the Arctic Ocean. Sea ice, particularly when snow covered, acts as a lid hindering light to reach the waters underneath. Less ice will therefore mean more light entering the water column, with profound effects on pelagic and benthic ecosystems. Responses through primary production are so far well acknowledged. Here we argue that there is a need to broaden the view to include light-driven effects on fish, as they depend on light to locate prey. We used the Norwegian Earth System Model estimates of past and future sea ice area and thickness in the Arctic and applied attenuation coefficients for ice and snow to estimate light intensity. The results show a dramatic increase in the amount of light predicted to reach the future Arctic Ocean. We combined this insight with mechanistic understanding of how light modulates visual prey-detection and predict that fish will forage more efficiently as sea ice diminishes and that their populations will expand to higher latitudes, at least seasonally. Poleward shifts of boreal fish species have been predicted by many and to some extent observed, but a changing light environment has so far not been considered a driver. Expanding distributions and greater visual predation may restructure ecological relationships throughout the Arctic foodweb and lead to regime shifts. Research efforts should focus on the dynamics of how less sea ice will affect the feeding ecology and habitat usage of fish, particularly the northern limits of distributions. Mechanistic approaches to these topics offer insights beyond statistical correlations and extrapolations, and will help us understand how changing biophysical dynamics in the Arctic influence complex processes including production, predator–prey interactions, trait-evolution, and fisheries. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Arctic Ocean Climate change Sea ice Oxford University Press ICES Journal of Marine Science 72 9 2532 2538 |
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Open Polar |
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Oxford University Press |
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croxfordunivpr |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract A gigantic light experiment is taking place in the Arctic. Climate change has led to substantial reductions in sea ice extent and thickness in the Arctic Ocean. Sea ice, particularly when snow covered, acts as a lid hindering light to reach the waters underneath. Less ice will therefore mean more light entering the water column, with profound effects on pelagic and benthic ecosystems. Responses through primary production are so far well acknowledged. Here we argue that there is a need to broaden the view to include light-driven effects on fish, as they depend on light to locate prey. We used the Norwegian Earth System Model estimates of past and future sea ice area and thickness in the Arctic and applied attenuation coefficients for ice and snow to estimate light intensity. The results show a dramatic increase in the amount of light predicted to reach the future Arctic Ocean. We combined this insight with mechanistic understanding of how light modulates visual prey-detection and predict that fish will forage more efficiently as sea ice diminishes and that their populations will expand to higher latitudes, at least seasonally. Poleward shifts of boreal fish species have been predicted by many and to some extent observed, but a changing light environment has so far not been considered a driver. Expanding distributions and greater visual predation may restructure ecological relationships throughout the Arctic foodweb and lead to regime shifts. Research efforts should focus on the dynamics of how less sea ice will affect the feeding ecology and habitat usage of fish, particularly the northern limits of distributions. Mechanistic approaches to these topics offer insights beyond statistical correlations and extrapolations, and will help us understand how changing biophysical dynamics in the Arctic influence complex processes including production, predator–prey interactions, trait-evolution, and fisheries. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Varpe, Øystein Daase, Malin Kristiansen, Trond |
spellingShingle |
Varpe, Øystein Daase, Malin Kristiansen, Trond A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape |
author_facet |
Varpe, Øystein Daase, Malin Kristiansen, Trond |
author_sort |
Varpe, Øystein |
title |
A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape |
title_short |
A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape |
title_full |
A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape |
title_fullStr |
A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape |
title_full_unstemmed |
A fish-eye view on the new Arctic lightscape |
title_sort |
fish-eye view on the new arctic lightscape |
publisher |
Oxford University Press (OUP) |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv129 http://academic.oup.com/icesjms/article-pdf/72/9/2532/31226399/fsv129.pdf |
genre |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Climate change Sea ice |
genre_facet |
Arctic Arctic Ocean Climate change Sea ice |
op_source |
ICES Journal of Marine Science volume 72, issue 9, page 2532-2538 ISSN 1095-9289 1054-3139 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsv129 |
container_title |
ICES Journal of Marine Science |
container_volume |
72 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
2532 |
op_container_end_page |
2538 |
_version_ |
1799472360622915584 |