Climate change and biological oceanography of the Arctic Ocean

• Published in: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Physical and Engineering Sciences
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 1995
• Subjects: Arctic; Arctic Ocean; Climate change; ice algae; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.1995.0070; https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/pdf/10.1098/rsta.1995.0070

Polar environments are characterized by unique physical and chemical conditions for the development of life. Low temperatures and the seasonality of light create one of the most extreme habitats on Earth. The Arctic sea ice cover not only acts as an insulator for heat and energy exchange processes between ocean and atmosphere but also serves as a unique habitat for a specialized community of organisms, consisting of bacteria, algae, protozoa and metazoa. The primary production of sea ice algae may play a crucial role in the life cycle of planktonic and benthic organisms. Thus, a reduction of the sea ice extent due to environmental changes will influence the structure and processes of communities living inside the ice and pelagic realms.