Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean
Polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by sea ice and are important sources of primary production in high-latitude marine ecosystems. The magnitude of annual primary production in polynyas is controlled by the amount of exposure to solar radiation and sensitivity to changes in sea-ice extent. T...
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crroyalsociety:10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 2024-06-02T07:57:24+00:00 Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin R. Garrott, Robert A. 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 en eng The Royal Society https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 282, issue 1806, page 20143137 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 journal-article 2015 crroyalsociety https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 2024-05-07T14:16:40Z Polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by sea ice and are important sources of primary production in high-latitude marine ecosystems. The magnitude of annual primary production in polynyas is controlled by the amount of exposure to solar radiation and sensitivity to changes in sea-ice extent. The degree of coupling between primary production and production by upper trophic-level consumers in these environments is not well understood, which prevents reliable predictions about population trajectories for species at higher trophic levels under potential future climate scenarios. In this study, we find a strong, positive relationship between annual primary production in an Antarctic polynya and pup production by ice-dependent Weddell seals. The timing of the relationship suggests reproductive effort increases to take advantage of high primary production occurring in the months after the birth pulse. Though the proximate causal mechanism is unknown, our results indicate tight coupling between organisms at disparate trophic levels on a short timescale, deepen our understanding of marine ecosystem processes, and raise interesting questions about why such coupling exists and what implications it has for understanding high-latitude ecosystems. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice Southern Ocean Weddell Seals The Royal Society Antarctic Southern Ocean Weddell Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282 1806 20143137 |
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Open Polar |
collection |
The Royal Society |
op_collection_id |
crroyalsociety |
language |
English |
description |
Polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by sea ice and are important sources of primary production in high-latitude marine ecosystems. The magnitude of annual primary production in polynyas is controlled by the amount of exposure to solar radiation and sensitivity to changes in sea-ice extent. The degree of coupling between primary production and production by upper trophic-level consumers in these environments is not well understood, which prevents reliable predictions about population trajectories for species at higher trophic levels under potential future climate scenarios. In this study, we find a strong, positive relationship between annual primary production in an Antarctic polynya and pup production by ice-dependent Weddell seals. The timing of the relationship suggests reproductive effort increases to take advantage of high primary production occurring in the months after the birth pulse. Though the proximate causal mechanism is unknown, our results indicate tight coupling between organisms at disparate trophic levels on a short timescale, deepen our understanding of marine ecosystem processes, and raise interesting questions about why such coupling exists and what implications it has for understanding high-latitude ecosystems. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin R. Garrott, Robert A. |
spellingShingle |
Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin R. Garrott, Robert A. Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
author_facet |
Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin R. Garrott, Robert A. |
author_sort |
Paterson, J. Terrill |
title |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the southern ocean |
publisher |
The Royal Society |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full-xml/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice Southern Ocean Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Sea ice Southern Ocean Weddell Seals |
op_source |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences volume 282, issue 1806, page 20143137 ISSN 0962-8452 1471-2954 |
op_rights |
https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/data-sharing-mining/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
282 |
container_issue |
1806 |
container_start_page |
20143137 |
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1800740548886134784 |