Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf
Marine ecosystem dynamics can vary on timescales ranging from months to centuries, but many observational data are limited to just a few decades. The bivalve Arctica islandica may live up to five centuries depositing annual growth increments in its shells which can serve as an indicator for ecosyste...
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2022
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 https://doaj.org/article/8f7982a52d9f48efb3c59abeb60e2822 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8f7982a52d9f48efb3c59abeb60e2822 2023-05-15T15:22:29+02:00 Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf Una Matras Ian Salter Karin Margretha H. Larsen Eilif Gaard Petur Steingrund 2022-08-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 https://doaj.org/article/8f7982a52d9f48efb3c59abeb60e2822 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 https://doaj.org/article/8f7982a52d9f48efb3c59abeb60e2822 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) Calanus finmarchicus faroe shelf bottom feeding fish phytoplankton zooplankton Arctica islandica growth Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 2022-12-30T19:50:43Z Marine ecosystem dynamics can vary on timescales ranging from months to centuries, but many observational data are limited to just a few decades. The bivalve Arctica islandica may live up to five centuries depositing annual growth increments in its shells which can serve as an indicator for ecosystem productivity. In the present study, 154 specimens of A. islandica were collected on the Faroe Shelf and standardised annual growth increments for 143 of them – 44 from coastal stations and 99 from shelf stations – were compared with climatic, oceanographic and biological variables. A. islandica growth from coastal and shelf stations was not correlated with basin-scale climate indices (the AMO index, the NAO index, the AO index or the subpolar gyre index) or, more locally, with windspeed or sea surface temperature on the Faroe Shelf. For the shelf stations there was a significant negative correlation between A. islandica growth and the volume transport of the Faroe Current flowing just north of Faroe Islands (r = -0.62). There was a weak nonsignificant positive correlation with an index of primary production on the Faroe Shelf (r = 0.31) and a strong negative correlation with a zooplankton biomass index in mid-summer (r = -0.76). There was also a strong positive correlation between A. islandica growth and the biomass of the bottom-feeding fish species Melanogrammus aeglefinus two years later (r = 0.62). These results seem to suggest that A. islandica growth may represent the amount of fresh phytoplankton that reaches the near-bottom water layers and could probably be regarded as a proxy for the strength of pelagic-benthic coupling that is modulated through phytoplankton-zooplankton interactions in the overlying water. Our results highlight the potential for A. islandica to serve as a long-term proxy for linking variability in pelagic ecosystem dynamics to demersal fish stocks. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctica islandica Calanus finmarchicus Faroe Islands Zooplankton Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Faroe Islands Faroe Shelf ENVELOPE(-6.000,-6.000,62.000,62.000) Frontiers in Marine Science 9 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Calanus finmarchicus faroe shelf bottom feeding fish phytoplankton zooplankton Arctica islandica growth Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
Calanus finmarchicus faroe shelf bottom feeding fish phytoplankton zooplankton Arctica islandica growth Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Una Matras Ian Salter Karin Margretha H. Larsen Eilif Gaard Petur Steingrund Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf |
topic_facet |
Calanus finmarchicus faroe shelf bottom feeding fish phytoplankton zooplankton Arctica islandica growth Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
Marine ecosystem dynamics can vary on timescales ranging from months to centuries, but many observational data are limited to just a few decades. The bivalve Arctica islandica may live up to five centuries depositing annual growth increments in its shells which can serve as an indicator for ecosystem productivity. In the present study, 154 specimens of A. islandica were collected on the Faroe Shelf and standardised annual growth increments for 143 of them – 44 from coastal stations and 99 from shelf stations – were compared with climatic, oceanographic and biological variables. A. islandica growth from coastal and shelf stations was not correlated with basin-scale climate indices (the AMO index, the NAO index, the AO index or the subpolar gyre index) or, more locally, with windspeed or sea surface temperature on the Faroe Shelf. For the shelf stations there was a significant negative correlation between A. islandica growth and the volume transport of the Faroe Current flowing just north of Faroe Islands (r = -0.62). There was a weak nonsignificant positive correlation with an index of primary production on the Faroe Shelf (r = 0.31) and a strong negative correlation with a zooplankton biomass index in mid-summer (r = -0.76). There was also a strong positive correlation between A. islandica growth and the biomass of the bottom-feeding fish species Melanogrammus aeglefinus two years later (r = 0.62). These results seem to suggest that A. islandica growth may represent the amount of fresh phytoplankton that reaches the near-bottom water layers and could probably be regarded as a proxy for the strength of pelagic-benthic coupling that is modulated through phytoplankton-zooplankton interactions in the overlying water. Our results highlight the potential for A. islandica to serve as a long-term proxy for linking variability in pelagic ecosystem dynamics to demersal fish stocks. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Una Matras Ian Salter Karin Margretha H. Larsen Eilif Gaard Petur Steingrund |
author_facet |
Una Matras Ian Salter Karin Margretha H. Larsen Eilif Gaard Petur Steingrund |
author_sort |
Una Matras |
title |
Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf |
title_short |
Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf |
title_full |
Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf |
title_fullStr |
Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf |
title_full_unstemmed |
Relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam Arctica islandica on the Faroe shelf |
title_sort |
relationship between plankton dynamics and growth of the long-lived clam arctica islandica on the faroe shelf |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 https://doaj.org/article/8f7982a52d9f48efb3c59abeb60e2822 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-6.000,-6.000,62.000,62.000) |
geographic |
Faroe Islands Faroe Shelf |
geographic_facet |
Faroe Islands Faroe Shelf |
genre |
Arctica islandica Calanus finmarchicus Faroe Islands Zooplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctica islandica Calanus finmarchicus Faroe Islands Zooplankton |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 https://doaj.org/article/8f7982a52d9f48efb3c59abeb60e2822 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.822343 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
9 |
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1766353136871538688 |