Growth variability of the Greenland smoothcockle Serripes groenlandicus (Brugiere 1789) affected by glacier induced changes in the Kongsfjorden ecosystem

• Main Authors: Laudien, Jürgen, Paar, Martin
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: unknown
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Kongsbreen; Climate change; glacier; Kongsfjord*; Kongsfjorden; Serripes groenlandicus
• Online Access: https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/35348/; https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/35348/1/SerripesLaudien.pdf; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43378; https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.43378.d001

Climate change forces retreat of Arctic glaciers and release of increased quantities of melt water and terrigenous material into coastal habitats of the Arctic such as the Kongsfjorden Ecosystem. The effect of this glacier induced physical parameters on growth and abundance of the Greenland smoothcockle (Serripes groenlandicus, Bruguière 1798) were determined. Along Kongsfjorden, at five stations with increasing distance to the Kongsbreen glacier, specimen of the cockle were collected and physical parameters were measured. Effects on growth of S. groenlandicus were analyzed by measuring variability of annual increments obtained from cockles’ thin section. Towards the glacier front temperature and Chlorophyll a content of the water column decreased, whereas total suspended matter and sedimentation rates increased. Regression analysis revealed lowest growth rate at the station close to Kongsbreen. Average standard growth index (SGI) of S. groenlandicus was lowest at this station (-0.4884±0.1763 95%CI), highest at Ny Alesund (0.1523±0.1158 95%CI), and decreased towards the mouth of Kongsfjorden (-0.0217±0.0718 95%CI and -0.1310±0.0759 95%CI, respectively at the two outer stations). Multi regression analysis revealed a strong relationship between average SGI and temperature (P<0.001, R²=0.75) as well as total sedimented material (P=0.018, R²=0.80).