Climate change impacts on sea-ice ecosystems and associated ecosystem services

• Published in: Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene
• Main Authors: Steiner, Nadja S., Bowman, Jeff, Campbell, Karley, Chierici, Melissa, Eronen-Rasimus, Eeva, Falardeau, Marianne, Flores, Hauke, Fransson, Agneta, Herr, Helena, Insley, Stephen J., Kauko, Hanna M., Lannuzel, Delphine, Loseto, Lisa, Lynnes, Amanda, Majewski, Andy, Meiners, Klaus M., Miller, Lisa A., Michel, Loïc, Moreau, Sebastien, Nacke, Melissa, Nomura, Daiki, Tedesco, Letizia, van Franeker, Jan Andries, van Leeuwe, Maria A., Wongpan, Pat
• Other Authors: FOCUS - Freshwater and OCeanic science Unit of reSearch - ULiège, MARE - Centre Interfacultaire de Recherches en Océanologie - ULiège
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of California Press 2021
• Subjects: Climate change; EBSA; Ecosystem services; Marine Protected Area (MPA); Polar regions; Sea-ice ecosystems; Oceanography; Environmental Engineering; Ecology; Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology; Geology; Atmospheric Science; Life sciences; Environmental sciences & ecology; Aquatic sciences & oceanology; Zoology; Sciences du vivant; Sciences de l’environnement & écologie; Sciences aquatiques & océanologie; Zoologie; Arctic; Antarctic; Arctic Ocean; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Arctic cod; Boreogadus saida; Euphausia superba; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/288259; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/288259/1/elementa.2021.00007.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2021.00007

peer reviewed A rigorous synthesis of the sea-ice ecosystem and linked ecosystem services highlights that the sea-ice ecosystem supports all 4 ecosystem service categories, that sea-ice ecosystems meet the criteria for ecologically or biologically significant marine areas, that global emissions driving climate change are directly linked to the demise of sea-ice ecosystems and its ecosystem services, and that the sea-ice ecosystem deserves specific attention in the evaluation of marine protected area planning. The synthesis outlines (1) supporting services, provided in form of habitat, including feeding grounds and nurseries for microbes, meiofauna, fish, birds and mammals (particularly the key species Arctic cod, Boreogadus saida, and Antarctic krill, Euphausia superba, which are tightly linked to the sea-ice ecosystem and transfer carbon from sea-ice primary producers to higher trophic level fish, mammal species and humans); (2) provisioning services through harvesting and medicinal and genetic resources; (3) cultural services through Indigenous and local knowledge systems, cultural identity and spirituality, and via cultural activities, tourism and research; (4) (climate) regulating services through light regulation, the production of biogenic aerosols, halogen oxidation and the release or uptake of greenhouse gases, for example, carbon dioxide. The ongoing changes in the polar regions have strong impacts on sea-ice ecosystems and associated ecosystem services. While the response of sea-ice–associated primary production to environmental change is regionally variable, the effect on ice-associated mammals and birds is predominantly negative, subsequently impacting human harvesting and cultural services in both polar regions. Conservation can help protect some species and functions. However, the key mitigation measure that can slow the transition to a strictly seasonal ice cover in the Arctic Ocean, reduce the overall loss of sea-ice habitats from the ocean, and thus preserve the unique ecosystem services ...