Decline in plankton diversity and carbon flux with reduced sea ice extent along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

• Published in: Nature Communications
• Main Authors: Lin, Yajuan, Moreno, Carly, Marchetti, Adrian, Ducklow, Hugh, Schofield, Oscar, Delage, Erwan, Meredith, Michael, Li, Zuchuan, Eveillard, Damien, Chaffron, Samuel, Cassar, Nicolas
• Other Authors: Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University Durham, Laboratoire des Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (LEMAR) (LEMAR), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut Français de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer (IFREMER)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer (IUEM), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Brest (UBO)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes (LS2N), IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (IMT Atlantique), Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Institut Mines-Télécom Paris (IMT)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-École Centrale de Nantes (ECN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Combinatoire et Bioinformatique (COMBI), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-École Centrale de Nantes (ECN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-IMT Atlantique Bretagne-Pays de la Loire (IMT Atlantique)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: [SDV.EE.BIO]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Ecology; environment/Bioclimatology; [SDE.BE]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology; [SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarc*; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03389081; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03389081/document; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-03389081/file/s41467-021-25235-w.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-25235-w

International audience Since the middle of the past century, the Western Antarctic Peninsula has warmed rapidly with a significant loss of sea ice but the impacts on plankton biodiversity and carbon cycling remain an open question. Here, using a 5-year dataset of eukaryotic plankton DNA metabarcoding, we assess changes in biodiversity and net community production in this region. Our results show that sea-ice extent is a dominant factor influencing eukaryotic plankton community composition, biodiversity, and net community production. Species richness and evenness decline with an increase in sea surface temperature (SST). In regions with low SST and shallow mixed layers, the community was dominated by a diverse assemblage of diatoms and dinoflagellates. Conversely, less diverse plankton assemblages were observed in waters with higher SST and/or deep mixed layers when sea ice extent was lower. A genetic programming machine-learning model explained up to 80% of the net community production variability at the Western Antarctic Peninsula. Among the biological explanatory variables, the sea-ice environment associated plankton assemblage is the best predictor of net community production. We conclude that eukaryotic plankton diversity and carbon cycling at the Western Antarctic Peninsula are strongly linked to sea-ice conditions.