Sea-ice decline could keep zooplankton deeper for longer

As Arctic sea ice deteriorates, more light enters the ocean, causing largely unknown effects on the ecosystem. Using an autonomous biophysical observatory, we recorded zooplankton vertical distribution under Arctic sea ice from dusk to dawn of the polar night. Here we show that zooplankton ascend in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Climate Change
Main Authors: Flores, Hauke, Veyssiere, Gaelle, Castellani, Giuluia, Wilkinson, Jeremy, Hoppmann, Mario, Karcher, Michael, Valcic, Lovro, Cornils, Astrid, Geoffrey, Maxime, Nicolaus, Marcel, Niehoff, Barbara, Priou, Pierre, Schmidt, Kathrin, Stroeve, Julienne
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:unknown
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Climate Change
Arctic sea ice
Arctic ecology
zooplankton
ecosystem monitoring
phenology,marine biology
Arctic
Climate change
polar night
Sea ice
Zooplankton
Online Access:https://zenodo.org/record/8320932
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01779-1
Description
Summary:As Arctic sea ice deteriorates, more light enters the ocean, causing largely unknown effects on the ecosystem. Using an autonomous biophysical observatory, we recorded zooplankton vertical distribution under Arctic sea ice from dusk to dawn of the polar night. Here we show that zooplankton ascend into the under-ice habitat during autumn twilight, following an isolume of 2.4 × 10−4 W m−2. We applied this trigger isolume to CMIP6 model outputs accounting for incoming radiation after sunset and before sunrise of the polar night. The models project that, in about three decades, the total time spent by zooplankton in the under-ice habitat could be reduced by up to one month, depending on geographic region. This will impact zooplankton winter survival, the Arctic foodweb, and carbon and nutrient fluxes. These findings highlight the importance of biological processes during the twilight periods for predicting change in high-latitude ecosystems.

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