Impact of climate change on Antarctic krill

• Published in: Marine Ecology Progress Series
• Main Authors: Flores, H, Atkinson, A, Kawaguchi, S, Krafft, BA, Milinevsky, G, Nicol, S, Reiss, C, Tarling, GA, Werner, R, Bravo Rebolledo, E, Cirelli, V, Cuzin-Roudy, J, Fielding, S, Groeneveld, JJ, Haraldsson, M, Lombana, A, Marschoff, E, Meyer, B, Pakhomov, EA, Rombola, E, Schmidt, K, Siegel, V, Teschke, M, Tonkes, H, Toullec, JY, Trathan, PN, Tremblay, N, Van de Putte, AP, van Franeker, JA, Werner, T
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Inter-Research 2012
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Ecology; Marine and Estuarine Ecology (incl. Marine Ichthyology); Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Euphausia superba; Sea ice
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09831; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/80292

Antarctic krill Euphausia superba (hereafterkrill) occur in regions undergoing rapid environmentalchange, particularly loss of winter seaice. During recent years, harvesting of krill has increased, possibly enhancing stress on krill andAntarctic ecosystems. Here we review the overallimpact of climate change on krill and Antarctic ecosystems,discuss implications for an ecosystem-basedfisheries management approach and identify criticalknowledge gaps. Sea ice decline, ocean warmingand other environmental stressors act in concert tomodify the abundance, distribution and life cycle ofkrill. Although some of these changes can have positiveeffects on krill, their cumulative impact is mostlikely negative. Recruitment, driven largely by thewinter survival of larval krill, is probably the populationparameter most susceptible to climate change.Predicting changes to krill populations is urgent,because they will seriously impact Antarctic eco -systems. Such predictions, however, are complicatedby an intense inter-annual variability in recruitmentsuccess and krill abundance. To improve the responsivenessof the ecosystem-based management ap -proach adopted by the Commission for the Conservationof Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR),critical knowledge gaps need to be filled. In additionto a better understanding of the factors influencingrecruitment, management will require a better un -derstanding of the resilience and the genetic plasticityof krill life stages, and a quantitative understandingof under-ice and benthic habitat use. Currentprecautionary management measures of CCAMLRshould be maintained until a better understanding ofthese processes has been achieved.