Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem
Abstract The Pikialasorsuaq (North Water polynya) is an area of local and global cultural and ecological significance. However, over the last decades, the region has been subject to rapid warming, and in some recent years, the seasonal ice arch that has historically defined the polynya's northe...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16958 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16958 |
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crwiley:10.1111/gcb.16958 2024-06-02T08:10:30+00:00 Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem Limoges, Audrey Ribeiro, Sofia Van Nieuwenhove, Nicolas Jackson, Rebecca Juggins, Stephen Crosta, Xavier Weckström, Kaarina ArcticNet Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16958 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16958 en eng Wiley http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Global Change Biology volume 29, issue 23, page 6503-6516 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 journal-article 2023 crwiley https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16958 2024-05-03T11:50:05Z Abstract The Pikialasorsuaq (North Water polynya) is an area of local and global cultural and ecological significance. However, over the last decades, the region has been subject to rapid warming, and in some recent years, the seasonal ice arch that has historically defined the polynya's northern boundary has failed to form. Both factors are deemed to alter the polynya's ecosystem functioning. To understand how climate‐induced changes to the Pikialasorsuaq impact the basis of the marine food web, we explored diatom community‐level responses to changing conditions, from a sediment core spanning the last 3800 years. Four metrics were used: total diatom concentrations, taxonomic composition, mean size, and diversity. Generalized additive model statistics highlight significant changes at ca. 2400, 2050, 1550, 1200, and 130 cal years BP, all coeval with known transitions between colder and warmer intervals of the Late Holocene, and regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq. Notably, a weaker/contracted polynya during the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly caused the diatom community to reorganize via shifts in species composition, with the presence of larger taxa but lower diversity, and significantly reduced export production. This study underlines the high sensitivity of primary producers to changes in the polynya dynamics and illustrates that the strong pulse of early spring cryopelagic diatoms that makes the Pikialasorsuaq exceptionally productive may be jeopardized by rapid warming and associated Nares Strait ice arch destabilization. Future alterations to the phenology of primary producers may disproportionately impact higher trophic levels and keystone species in this region, with implications for Indigenous Peoples and global diversity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Nares strait Wiley Online Library Nares ENVELOPE(158.167,158.167,-81.450,-81.450) Global Change Biology 29 23 6503 6516 |
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Open Polar |
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Wiley Online Library |
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crwiley |
language |
English |
description |
Abstract The Pikialasorsuaq (North Water polynya) is an area of local and global cultural and ecological significance. However, over the last decades, the region has been subject to rapid warming, and in some recent years, the seasonal ice arch that has historically defined the polynya's northern boundary has failed to form. Both factors are deemed to alter the polynya's ecosystem functioning. To understand how climate‐induced changes to the Pikialasorsuaq impact the basis of the marine food web, we explored diatom community‐level responses to changing conditions, from a sediment core spanning the last 3800 years. Four metrics were used: total diatom concentrations, taxonomic composition, mean size, and diversity. Generalized additive model statistics highlight significant changes at ca. 2400, 2050, 1550, 1200, and 130 cal years BP, all coeval with known transitions between colder and warmer intervals of the Late Holocene, and regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq. Notably, a weaker/contracted polynya during the Roman Warm Period and Medieval Climate Anomaly caused the diatom community to reorganize via shifts in species composition, with the presence of larger taxa but lower diversity, and significantly reduced export production. This study underlines the high sensitivity of primary producers to changes in the polynya dynamics and illustrates that the strong pulse of early spring cryopelagic diatoms that makes the Pikialasorsuaq exceptionally productive may be jeopardized by rapid warming and associated Nares Strait ice arch destabilization. Future alterations to the phenology of primary producers may disproportionately impact higher trophic levels and keystone species in this region, with implications for Indigenous Peoples and global diversity. |
author2 |
ArcticNet Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Limoges, Audrey Ribeiro, Sofia Van Nieuwenhove, Nicolas Jackson, Rebecca Juggins, Stephen Crosta, Xavier Weckström, Kaarina |
spellingShingle |
Limoges, Audrey Ribeiro, Sofia Van Nieuwenhove, Nicolas Jackson, Rebecca Juggins, Stephen Crosta, Xavier Weckström, Kaarina Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
author_facet |
Limoges, Audrey Ribeiro, Sofia Van Nieuwenhove, Nicolas Jackson, Rebecca Juggins, Stephen Crosta, Xavier Weckström, Kaarina |
author_sort |
Limoges, Audrey |
title |
Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
title_short |
Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
title_full |
Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
title_fullStr |
Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
title_full_unstemmed |
Marine diatoms record Late Holocene regime shifts in the Pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
title_sort |
marine diatoms record late holocene regime shifts in the pikialasorsuaq ecosystem |
publisher |
Wiley |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16958 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/gcb.16958 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(158.167,158.167,-81.450,-81.450) |
geographic |
Nares |
geographic_facet |
Nares |
genre |
Nares strait |
genre_facet |
Nares strait |
op_source |
Global Change Biology volume 29, issue 23, page 6503-6516 ISSN 1354-1013 1365-2486 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.16958 |
container_title |
Global Change Biology |
container_volume |
29 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
6503 |
op_container_end_page |
6516 |
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1800756384843694080 |