TIME-SERIES FOCUSED ASSESSMENTS OF CHANGING MARINE BIVALVE COMMUNITIES IN THE BERING AND CHUKCHI SEAS ...

• Main Author: Goethel, Christina
• Format: Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Digital Repository at the University of Maryland 2021
• Subjects: Environmental science; Arctic; Bivalve; Time-series; Bering Sea; Chukchi Sea; Pacific; Chukchi; Pacific Arctic; Sea ice; walrus*
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.13016/pojs-sixs; https://drum.lib.umd.edu/handle/1903/28422

The Pacific Arctic has been experiencing rapid environmental change, including increasing bottom water temperatures, declining sea ice extent, and ecosystem shifts. In the northern Bering Sea (NBS), bottom water temperature was ~1.5°C higher in 2018 than previously recorded. Temperature and sea ice dynamics could alter this benthic-dominated system, potentially shifting the food web to a more pelagic-dominated system. Bivalves, a key component of the benthic macrofaunal community, are important prey items for the spectacled eider in the NBS and for walrus in both the NBS and the southeast Chukchi Sea (SEC). Here, data were collected and analyzed at established time-series stations in the NBS and SEC as part of the Distributed Biological Observatory. The objective was to evaluate changes to bivalve communities, and how those relate to overall benthic community shifts and functioning. By using both time-series and experimental techniques my research: 1) evaluated past trends in detail for a single dominant ...