Harbour porpoises respond to climate change
Abstract The effects of climate change on marine ecosystems and in particular on marine top predators are difficult to assess due to, among other things, spatial variability, and lack of clear delineation of marine habitats. The banks of West Greenland are located in a climate sensitive area and are...
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crwiley:10.1002/ece3.51 2024-06-02T08:03:09+00:00 Harbour porpoises respond to climate change Heide‐Jørgensen, Mads Peter Iversen, Maria Nielsen, Nynne Hjort Lockyer, Christina Stern, Harry Ribergaard, Mads Hvid 2011 http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.51 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fece3.51 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.51 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ Ecology and Evolution volume 1, issue 4, page 579-585 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 journal-article 2011 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.51 2024-05-03T11:21:45Z Abstract The effects of climate change on marine ecosystems and in particular on marine top predators are difficult to assess due to, among other things, spatial variability, and lack of clear delineation of marine habitats. The banks of West Greenland are located in a climate sensitive area and are likely to elicit pronounced responses to oceanographic changes in the North Atlantic. The recent increase in sea temperatures on the banks of West Greenland has had cascading effects on sea ice coverage, residency of top predators, and abundance of important prey species like Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ). Here, we report on the response of one of the top predators in West Greenland; the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ). The porpoises depend on locating high densities of prey species with high nutritive value and they have apparently responded to the general warming on the banks of West Greenland by longer residence times, increased consumption of Atlantic cod resulting in improved body condition in the form of larger fat deposits in blubber, compared to the situation during a cold period in the 1990s. This is one of the few examples of a measurable effect of climate change on a marine mammal population. Article in Journal/Newspaper atlantic cod Gadus morhua Greenland Harbour porpoise North Atlantic Phocoena phocoena Sea ice Wiley Online Library Greenland Ecology and Evolution 1 4 579 585 |
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Abstract The effects of climate change on marine ecosystems and in particular on marine top predators are difficult to assess due to, among other things, spatial variability, and lack of clear delineation of marine habitats. The banks of West Greenland are located in a climate sensitive area and are likely to elicit pronounced responses to oceanographic changes in the North Atlantic. The recent increase in sea temperatures on the banks of West Greenland has had cascading effects on sea ice coverage, residency of top predators, and abundance of important prey species like Atlantic cod ( Gadus morhua ). Here, we report on the response of one of the top predators in West Greenland; the harbour porpoise ( Phocoena phocoena ). The porpoises depend on locating high densities of prey species with high nutritive value and they have apparently responded to the general warming on the banks of West Greenland by longer residence times, increased consumption of Atlantic cod resulting in improved body condition in the form of larger fat deposits in blubber, compared to the situation during a cold period in the 1990s. This is one of the few examples of a measurable effect of climate change on a marine mammal population. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heide‐Jørgensen, Mads Peter Iversen, Maria Nielsen, Nynne Hjort Lockyer, Christina Stern, Harry Ribergaard, Mads Hvid |
spellingShingle |
Heide‐Jørgensen, Mads Peter Iversen, Maria Nielsen, Nynne Hjort Lockyer, Christina Stern, Harry Ribergaard, Mads Hvid Harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
author_facet |
Heide‐Jørgensen, Mads Peter Iversen, Maria Nielsen, Nynne Hjort Lockyer, Christina Stern, Harry Ribergaard, Mads Hvid |
author_sort |
Heide‐Jørgensen, Mads Peter |
title |
Harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
title_short |
Harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
title_full |
Harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
title_fullStr |
Harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
title_full_unstemmed |
Harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
title_sort |
harbour porpoises respond to climate change |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2011 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ece3.51 https://api.wiley.com/onlinelibrary/tdm/v1/articles/10.1002%2Fece3.51 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/ece3.51 |
geographic |
Greenland |
geographic_facet |
Greenland |
genre |
atlantic cod Gadus morhua Greenland Harbour porpoise North Atlantic Phocoena phocoena Sea ice |
genre_facet |
atlantic cod Gadus morhua Greenland Harbour porpoise North Atlantic Phocoena phocoena Sea ice |
op_source |
Ecology and Evolution volume 1, issue 4, page 579-585 ISSN 2045-7758 2045-7758 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.51 |
container_title |
Ecology and Evolution |
container_volume |
1 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
579 |
op_container_end_page |
585 |
_version_ |
1800747624919203840 |