Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean
Polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by sea ice and are important sources of primary production in high-latitude marine ecosystems. The magnitude of annual primary production in polynyas is controlled by the amount of exposure to solar radiation and sensitivity to changes in sea-ice extent. T...
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ftmontanastateu:oai:scholarworks.montana.edu:1/9324 2023-05-15T13:54:59+02:00 Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin Garrott, Robert A. 2015-05 application/pdf https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9324 unknown Paterson, J. Terrill, Jay J. Rotella, Kevin R. Arrigo, and Robert A. Garrott. "Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean." The Royal Society Proceedings B 282, no. 1806 (March 2015). DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 . 0962-8452 https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9324 CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ CC-BY Article 2015 ftmontanastateu https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 2022-06-06T07:27:21Z Polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by sea ice and are important sources of primary production in high-latitude marine ecosystems. The magnitude of annual primary production in polynyas is controlled by the amount of exposure to solar radiation and sensitivity to changes in sea-ice extent. The degree of coupling between primary production and production by upper trophic-level consumers in these environments is not well understood, which prevents reliable predictions about population trajectories for species at higher trophic levels under potential future climate scenarios. In this study, we find a strong, positive relationship between annual primary production in an Antarctic polynya and pup production by ice-dependent Weddell seals. The timing of the relationship suggests reproductive effort increases to take advantage of high primary production occurring in the months after the birth pulse. Though the proximate causal mechanism is unknown, our results indicate tight coupling between organisms at disparate trophic levels on a short timescale, deepen our understanding of marine ecosystem processes, and raise interesting questions about why such coupling exists and what implications it has for understanding high-latitude ecosystems. Logistical support for fieldwork in Antarctica was provided by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Polar Services Company, Antarctic Support Associates, the United States Navy and Air Force, and Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Sea ice Southern Ocean Weddell Seals Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks Antarctic Southern Ocean Weddell Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282 1806 20143137 |
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Open Polar |
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Montana State University (MSU): ScholarWorks |
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ftmontanastateu |
language |
unknown |
description |
Polynyas are areas of open water surrounded by sea ice and are important sources of primary production in high-latitude marine ecosystems. The magnitude of annual primary production in polynyas is controlled by the amount of exposure to solar radiation and sensitivity to changes in sea-ice extent. The degree of coupling between primary production and production by upper trophic-level consumers in these environments is not well understood, which prevents reliable predictions about population trajectories for species at higher trophic levels under potential future climate scenarios. In this study, we find a strong, positive relationship between annual primary production in an Antarctic polynya and pup production by ice-dependent Weddell seals. The timing of the relationship suggests reproductive effort increases to take advantage of high primary production occurring in the months after the birth pulse. Though the proximate causal mechanism is unknown, our results indicate tight coupling between organisms at disparate trophic levels on a short timescale, deepen our understanding of marine ecosystem processes, and raise interesting questions about why such coupling exists and what implications it has for understanding high-latitude ecosystems. Logistical support for fieldwork in Antarctica was provided by Lockheed Martin, Raytheon Polar Services Company, Antarctic Support Associates, the United States Navy and Air Force, and Petroleum Helicopters Incorporated. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin Garrott, Robert A. |
spellingShingle |
Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin Garrott, Robert A. Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
author_facet |
Paterson, J. Terrill Rotella, Jay J. Arrigo, Kevin Garrott, Robert A. |
author_sort |
Paterson, J. Terrill |
title |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the southern ocean |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9324 |
geographic |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Weddell |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Southern Ocean Weddell |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Sea ice Southern Ocean Weddell Seals |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Sea ice Southern Ocean Weddell Seals |
op_relation |
Paterson, J. Terrill, Jay J. Rotella, Kevin R. Arrigo, and Robert A. Garrott. "Tight coupling of primary production and marine mammal reproduction in the Southern Ocean." The Royal Society Proceedings B 282, no. 1806 (March 2015). DOI:https://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 . 0962-8452 https://scholarworks.montana.edu/xmlui/handle/1/9324 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2014.3137 |
container_title |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |
container_volume |
282 |
container_issue |
1806 |
container_start_page |
20143137 |
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1766261200979492864 |