The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal
Abstract Arctic top predators are expected to be impacted by increasing temperatures associated with climate change, but the relationship between increasing sea temperatures and population dynamics of Arctic cetaceans remains largely unexplored. Narwhals ( Monodon monoceros ) are considered to be am...
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2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75658-6 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75658-6.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75658-6 |
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41598-020-75658-6 2023-05-15T14:28:58+02:00 The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal Chambault, P. Tervo, O. M. Garde, E. Hansen, R. G. Blackwell, S. B. Williams, T. M. Dietz, R. Albertsen, C. M. Laidre, K. L. Nielsen, N. H. Richard, P. Sinding, M. H. S. Schmidt, H. C. Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. Carlsbergfondet Pinngortitaleriffik Danish Cooperation for the Environment in the Arctic (DANCEA), Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, Environmental Agency for Mineral Resource Activities of the Government of Greenland 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75658-6 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75658-6.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75658-6 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 Multidisciplinary journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75658-6 2022-01-14T15:42:27Z Abstract Arctic top predators are expected to be impacted by increasing temperatures associated with climate change, but the relationship between increasing sea temperatures and population dynamics of Arctic cetaceans remains largely unexplored. Narwhals ( Monodon monoceros ) are considered to be among the most sensitive of Arctic endemic marine mammals to climate change due to their limited prey selection, strict migratory patterns and high site fidelity. In the context of climate change, we assume that the population dynamics of narwhals are partly influenced by changes in environmental conditions, with warm areas of increasing sea temperatures having lower abundance of narwhals. Using a unique large dataset of 144 satellite tracked narwhals, sea surface temperature (SST) data spanning 25 years (1993–2018) and narwhal abundance estimates from 17 localities, we (1) assessed the thermal exposure of this species, (2) investigated the SST trends at the summer foraging grounds, and (3) assessed the relationship between SST and abundance of narwhals. We showed a sharp SST increase in Northwest, Mideast and Southeast Greenland, whereas no change could be detected in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and in the Greenland Sea. The rising sea temperatures were correlated with the smallest narwhal abundance observed in the Mideast and Southeast Greenland (< 2000 individuals), where the mean summer sea temperatures were the highest (6.3 °C) compared to the cold waters of the CAA (0.7 °C) that were associated with the largest narwhal populations (> 40,000 individuals). These results support the hypothesis that warming ocean waters will restrict the habitat range of the narwhal, further suggesting that narwhals from Mideast and Southeast Greenland may be under pressure to abandon their traditional habitats due to ocean warming, and consequently either migrate further North or locally go extinct. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Climate change Greenland Greenland Sea Monodon monoceros narwhal* Springer Nature (via Crossref) Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Greenland Scientific Reports 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
op_collection_id |
crspringernat |
language |
English |
topic |
Multidisciplinary |
spellingShingle |
Multidisciplinary Chambault, P. Tervo, O. M. Garde, E. Hansen, R. G. Blackwell, S. B. Williams, T. M. Dietz, R. Albertsen, C. M. Laidre, K. L. Nielsen, N. H. Richard, P. Sinding, M. H. S. Schmidt, H. C. Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal |
topic_facet |
Multidisciplinary |
description |
Abstract Arctic top predators are expected to be impacted by increasing temperatures associated with climate change, but the relationship between increasing sea temperatures and population dynamics of Arctic cetaceans remains largely unexplored. Narwhals ( Monodon monoceros ) are considered to be among the most sensitive of Arctic endemic marine mammals to climate change due to their limited prey selection, strict migratory patterns and high site fidelity. In the context of climate change, we assume that the population dynamics of narwhals are partly influenced by changes in environmental conditions, with warm areas of increasing sea temperatures having lower abundance of narwhals. Using a unique large dataset of 144 satellite tracked narwhals, sea surface temperature (SST) data spanning 25 years (1993–2018) and narwhal abundance estimates from 17 localities, we (1) assessed the thermal exposure of this species, (2) investigated the SST trends at the summer foraging grounds, and (3) assessed the relationship between SST and abundance of narwhals. We showed a sharp SST increase in Northwest, Mideast and Southeast Greenland, whereas no change could be detected in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (CAA) and in the Greenland Sea. The rising sea temperatures were correlated with the smallest narwhal abundance observed in the Mideast and Southeast Greenland (< 2000 individuals), where the mean summer sea temperatures were the highest (6.3 °C) compared to the cold waters of the CAA (0.7 °C) that were associated with the largest narwhal populations (> 40,000 individuals). These results support the hypothesis that warming ocean waters will restrict the habitat range of the narwhal, further suggesting that narwhals from Mideast and Southeast Greenland may be under pressure to abandon their traditional habitats due to ocean warming, and consequently either migrate further North or locally go extinct. |
author2 |
Carlsbergfondet Pinngortitaleriffik Danish Cooperation for the Environment in the Arctic (DANCEA), Danish Centre for Environment and Energy, Environmental Agency for Mineral Resource Activities of the Government of Greenland |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Chambault, P. Tervo, O. M. Garde, E. Hansen, R. G. Blackwell, S. B. Williams, T. M. Dietz, R. Albertsen, C. M. Laidre, K. L. Nielsen, N. H. Richard, P. Sinding, M. H. S. Schmidt, H. C. Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. |
author_facet |
Chambault, P. Tervo, O. M. Garde, E. Hansen, R. G. Blackwell, S. B. Williams, T. M. Dietz, R. Albertsen, C. M. Laidre, K. L. Nielsen, N. H. Richard, P. Sinding, M. H. S. Schmidt, H. C. Heide-Jørgensen, M. P. |
author_sort |
Chambault, P. |
title |
The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal |
title_short |
The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal |
title_full |
The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal |
title_fullStr |
The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal |
title_full_unstemmed |
The impact of rising sea temperatures on an Arctic top predator, the narwhal |
title_sort |
impact of rising sea temperatures on an arctic top predator, the narwhal |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75658-6 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75658-6.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-75658-6 |
geographic |
Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Greenland |
genre |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Climate change Greenland Greenland Sea Monodon monoceros narwhal* |
genre_facet |
Arctic Archipelago Arctic Canadian Arctic Archipelago Climate change Greenland Greenland Sea Monodon monoceros narwhal* |
op_source |
Scientific Reports volume 10, issue 1 ISSN 2045-2322 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75658-6 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766303080709619712 |