Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird

Global warming, combined with an increasing influence of Atlantic Waters in the European Arctic, are causing a so-called Atlantification of the Arctic. This phenomenon is affecting the plankton biomass and communities with potential consequences for the upper trophic levels. Using long-term data (20...

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Published in:Frontiers in Marine Science
Main Authors: Sébastien Descamps, Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas, Dariusz Jakubas, Mikko Vihtakari, Harald Steen, Nina J. Karnovsky, Jorg Welcker, Johanna Hovinen, Philip Bertrand, Agnieszka Strzelewicz, Ragnheid Skogseth, Dorota Kidawa, Rafał Boehnke, Katarzyna Błachowiak-Samołyk
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Subjects:
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746
https://doaj.org/article/d9b94ce5e4d945acb9ddffb21e19c188
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d9b94ce5e4d945acb9ddffb21e19c188 2023-05-15T13:16:16+02:00 Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird Sébastien Descamps Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas Dariusz Jakubas Mikko Vihtakari Harald Steen Nina J. Karnovsky Jorg Welcker Johanna Hovinen Philip Bertrand Agnieszka Strzelewicz Ragnheid Skogseth Dorota Kidawa Rafał Boehnke Katarzyna Błachowiak-Samołyk 2022-06-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746 https://doaj.org/article/d9b94ce5e4d945acb9ddffb21e19c188 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.878746 https://doaj.org/article/d9b94ce5e4d945acb9ddffb21e19c188 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022) Alle alle borealization copepod Calanus fitness costs little auk Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746 2022-12-30T21:35:44Z Global warming, combined with an increasing influence of Atlantic Waters in the European Arctic, are causing a so-called Atlantification of the Arctic. This phenomenon is affecting the plankton biomass and communities with potential consequences for the upper trophic levels. Using long-term data (2005-2020) from a high Arctic zooplanktivorous seabird, the little auk (Alle alle), we tested the hypothesis that the Atlantification affects its diet, body condition and demography. We based our study on data collected in three fjords in West Spitsbergen, Svalbard, characterized by distinct oceanographic conditions. In all three fjords, we found a positive relationship between the inflow of Atlantic Waters and the proportion of Atlantic prey, notably of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus, in the little auk chick diet. A high proportion of Atlantic prey was negatively associated with adult body mass (though the effect size was small) and with chick survival (only in one fjord where chick survival until 21 days was available). We also found a negative and marginally significant effect of the average proportion of Atlantic prey in the chick diet on chick growth rate (data were available for one fjord only). Our results suggest that there are fitness costs for the little auk associated with the Atlantification of West Spitsbergen fjords. These costs seem especially pronounced during the late phase of the chick rearing period, when the energetic needs of the chicks are the highest. Consequently, even if little auks can partly adapt their foraging behaviour to changing environmental conditions, they are negatively affected by the ongoing changes in the Arctic marine ecosystems. These results stress the importance of long-term monitoring data in the Arctic to improve our understanding of the ongoing Atlantification and highlight the relevance of using seabirds as indicators of environmental change. Article in Journal/Newspaper Alle alle Arctic Calanus finmarchicus Global warming little auk Svalbard Spitsbergen Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Svalbard Frontiers in Marine Science 9
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Alle alle
borealization
copepod
Calanus
fitness costs
little auk
Science
Q
General. Including nature conservation
geographical distribution
QH1-199.5
spellingShingle Alle alle
borealization
copepod
Calanus
fitness costs
little auk
Science
Q
General. Including nature conservation
geographical distribution
QH1-199.5
Sébastien Descamps
Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas
Dariusz Jakubas
Mikko Vihtakari
Harald Steen
Nina J. Karnovsky
Jorg Welcker
Johanna Hovinen
Philip Bertrand
Agnieszka Strzelewicz
Ragnheid Skogseth
Dorota Kidawa
Rafał Boehnke
Katarzyna Błachowiak-Samołyk
Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird
topic_facet Alle alle
borealization
copepod
Calanus
fitness costs
little auk
Science
Q
General. Including nature conservation
geographical distribution
QH1-199.5
description Global warming, combined with an increasing influence of Atlantic Waters in the European Arctic, are causing a so-called Atlantification of the Arctic. This phenomenon is affecting the plankton biomass and communities with potential consequences for the upper trophic levels. Using long-term data (2005-2020) from a high Arctic zooplanktivorous seabird, the little auk (Alle alle), we tested the hypothesis that the Atlantification affects its diet, body condition and demography. We based our study on data collected in three fjords in West Spitsbergen, Svalbard, characterized by distinct oceanographic conditions. In all three fjords, we found a positive relationship between the inflow of Atlantic Waters and the proportion of Atlantic prey, notably of the copepod Calanus finmarchicus, in the little auk chick diet. A high proportion of Atlantic prey was negatively associated with adult body mass (though the effect size was small) and with chick survival (only in one fjord where chick survival until 21 days was available). We also found a negative and marginally significant effect of the average proportion of Atlantic prey in the chick diet on chick growth rate (data were available for one fjord only). Our results suggest that there are fitness costs for the little auk associated with the Atlantification of West Spitsbergen fjords. These costs seem especially pronounced during the late phase of the chick rearing period, when the energetic needs of the chicks are the highest. Consequently, even if little auks can partly adapt their foraging behaviour to changing environmental conditions, they are negatively affected by the ongoing changes in the Arctic marine ecosystems. These results stress the importance of long-term monitoring data in the Arctic to improve our understanding of the ongoing Atlantification and highlight the relevance of using seabirds as indicators of environmental change.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Sébastien Descamps
Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas
Dariusz Jakubas
Mikko Vihtakari
Harald Steen
Nina J. Karnovsky
Jorg Welcker
Johanna Hovinen
Philip Bertrand
Agnieszka Strzelewicz
Ragnheid Skogseth
Dorota Kidawa
Rafał Boehnke
Katarzyna Błachowiak-Samołyk
author_facet Sébastien Descamps
Katarzyna Wojczulanis-Jakubas
Dariusz Jakubas
Mikko Vihtakari
Harald Steen
Nina J. Karnovsky
Jorg Welcker
Johanna Hovinen
Philip Bertrand
Agnieszka Strzelewicz
Ragnheid Skogseth
Dorota Kidawa
Rafał Boehnke
Katarzyna Błachowiak-Samołyk
author_sort Sébastien Descamps
title Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird
title_short Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird
title_full Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird
title_fullStr Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird
title_full_unstemmed Consequences of Atlantification on a Zooplanktivorous Arctic Seabird
title_sort consequences of atlantification on a zooplanktivorous arctic seabird
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate 2022
url https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746
https://doaj.org/article/d9b94ce5e4d945acb9ddffb21e19c188
geographic Arctic
Svalbard
geographic_facet Arctic
Svalbard
genre Alle alle
Arctic
Calanus finmarchicus
Global warming
little auk
Svalbard
Spitsbergen
genre_facet Alle alle
Arctic
Calanus finmarchicus
Global warming
little auk
Svalbard
Spitsbergen
op_source Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 9 (2022)
op_relation https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746/full
https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745
2296-7745
doi:10.3389/fmars.2022.878746
https://doaj.org/article/d9b94ce5e4d945acb9ddffb21e19c188
op_doi https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2022.878746
container_title Frontiers in Marine Science
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