Sea Ice – The Biophysical Pictureawsassets.panda.org/downloads/warwick_vincent.pdfSea Ice – The...

Sea Ice – The Biophysical Picture From Microbes to Vertebrates

Warwick Vincent

Centre for Northern Studies (CEN), Laval University, Quebec City, Canada

Last Ice Area- WWF Canada Workshop Iqaluit, Nunavut , 4 June, 2013

• Remarkable properties

• Diverse ice types

Starlifter C141 – McMurdo Sound, Antarctica

www.photorestoration.co.nz

• Diverse ice-habitats

• Dynamic living system

• Natural infrastructure

WINTER SUMMER WINTER

www.unis.no

http://www.awi.de

Diversity of microscopic life in sea ice

http://www.awi.de

www.unis.no

www.unis.no

http://www.awi.de


sio.ucsd.edu

Zooplankton feeding on ice algae http://www.awi.de

omega-3 fatty acids

Diatoms

Paul Wassmann


Diatom strands: Melosira arctica

Polarella glacialis

Montresor et al 2003 Polar Biol. Polar Biology 26: 186-194

Video: Connie Lovejoy, Laval University

17 billion cells per cubic metre of multiyear ice

184 billion cells per cubic metre of seawater

Multiyear ice, 150 km from the North Pole

Melt pond ecosystems

http://epic.awi.de

Ellesmere Island Ice Shelves Nunavut, Canada

• 20 à 100 m en épaisseur • flottent sur l’eau • proviennent d’une accumulation de glace

Accumulation - snow

Losses - melting Losses - calving

Accumulation – basal freezing

Polar Ice Shelves

Ice shelf ecosystems

Koettlitz Glacier

Antarctica

Ice shelf ecosystems

Ward Hunt Ice Shelf,

Arctic Canada

Photos: WF Vincent, DR Mueller, P Hamilton

Polar microbial mats – diverse communities Polar microbial mats: Diverse communities

Proteo

bacte

ria

Cyano

bacte

ria

Actino

bacte

ria CFB

All othe

r bac

teria

Plancto

mycete

s

Firmicu

tes

Eukary

otes

Archae

aViru

s

Pre

cent

of t

otal

gen

e se

quen

ces

0.001

0.01

0.1

1

10

100

A B G O

% o

f Pro

teobacte

ria

1

10

100

Viral Diversity

Cyanobacteria

Varin et al. (2010) Limnol. Oceanogr. 55: 1901–1911. Varin et al. (2012) Applied Environ. Microbiol. 78: 549-559.

DNA profiling of the ice shelf mats from both polar regions shows that they are diverse consortia from all domains of life: Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya + viruses

Archaea Proteobacteria

Eukarya Other Bacterial groups

Raymond & Morgan-Kiss (2013) Raymond JA, Morgan-Kiss R (2013) Separate Origins of Ice-Binding Proteins in Antarctic Chlamydomonas Species. PLoS ONE 8(3): e59186. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0059186 http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0059186

Chlamydomonas raudensis: Effects of ice-binding proteins on ice

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0059186

Radisson, 53oN Kuujjuarapik, 55oN Whapmagoostui

Bylot Island, 73oN

Ward Hunt Island, 83oN

Salluit, 62oN

Québec City CEN Secretariat Université Laval

Umiujaq-LEC 56oN

Alexandra Fjord, 79oN, UBC

Boniface, 58oN

Nettilling Lake, 70oN

The CEN Network for Arctic observation

SILA: 80 monitoring stations Qaujisarvik: 9 field stations

Met station 2008 Ward Hunt Island Observatory Quttinirpaaq National Park (« Top of the World ») Latitude 83.1N

Ward Hunt Lake

Summer Ice Ice thickness was 4.3 m in 1953 The lake was ice-free in 2011 & 2012

PhD student Michel Paquette et al.

4.3 m

0 m

Arctic ice shelves – thick ancient ice

View south from WHI with automated camera: 16 July 2011

Break up of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf 2011

View south from WHI with automated camera: 4 August 2011


August 2012 – Open water to Lincoln Sea

Multi-year sea ice extent

White = ice of 10 years age or older April 1980 to April 2007

Ignatius G. Rigor & John M. Wallace University of Washington

http://seaice.apl.washington.edu/

ww

w.a

rcod

iv.o

rg/

Sea ice specialists such as Walrus may be particularly vulnerable

The Arctic Ocean foodweb in transition

ArcticNet

www.arcticsystem.no

The Arctic Ocean foodweb : match-mismatch

http://www.google.ca/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=Arctic+cycle+of+primary+production&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=siW-O2YZ_h-VGM&tbnid=RXrEyfDV_EaMIM:&ved=0CAQQjB0&url=http://www.arcticsystem.no/en/arctic-inc/primaryproducers.html&ei=UP-oUZiGE8LcqgH4mIDQDQ&bvm=bv.47244034,d.aWM&psig=AFQjCNFbTLXnM6EHV_33asdspEG818MSyA&ust=1370116287304007

Moore et al. 2013 seagrant.uaf.edu/conferences/2013/wakefield-arctic-ecosystems/

Ice cover influences ecosystem structure Moore et al. (2013)

Plankton dominated (pelagic) Bottom dominated (benthic)


Ice cover influences ecosystem structure Moore et al. (2013)

Plankton dominated (pelagic) Bottom dominated (benthic)

Regime Shift

From sea ice and water to the sea floor Changes in pelagic-benthic coupling Moore et al. (2013)



From sea ice and water to the sea floor (Pelagic-benthic coupling Moore et al. (2013)

Bering–Chukchi–Beaufort region (Moore et al. 2013) Sea ice decline and Bowhead whales

currents production

Loss of sea ice platform Moore et al. (2013)

Mortality events

Peak number of walruses on Cape Kozhevnikov, Chukotka (Russian Far East) in 2007. (Photograph courtesy of V. Khaustov)


Cape Kozhevnikov: Regionally Protected Area, December 13, 2010. (WWF Russia, the All-Russian Research Institute for Nature Protection, and the Marine Mammal Council)


• May largely disappear from the southern portions of their ranges • Ice changes in the most northerly areas may result in more favorable habitat


Walrus Polar bear Bearded seal Ringed seal

Harp seal Hooded seal Ribbon seal Spotted seal Beluga Narwhal

Fin whale Minke whale Humpback whale Killer whale

+ Pelagic community - Human subsistence activities + Human commercial activities

+ Benthic community + Human subsistence activities - Human commercial activities

Mammal Ecology and Sea Ice Moore et al. (2013)


Walrus Polar bear Bearded seal Ringed seal

Harp seal Hooded seal Ribbon seal Spotted seal Beluga Narwhal


+ Pelagic community - Human subsistence activities + Human commercial activities

+ Benthic community + Human subsistence activities - Human commercial activities


Mammal Ecology and Sea Ice Moore et al. (2013)

5 Asian nations: granted Arctic Council observer status, 15 May 2013: 2.8 billion people.


Conclusions

• Sea ice has enormous ecological significance – major part of the “natural infrastructure” of the circumpolar North.

• Rapid loss of ice-ecosystem types and habitat diversity. • We have begun to see replacement of ecosystems but there are likely to be large regional & local differences.

• Research and knowledge exchange are vital: research & monitoring partnerships with northern communities.

• Critical time for conservation plans and decision-making.

Acknowledgements: Connie Lovejoy, Denis Sarrazin, Derek Mueller, NEIGE & ADAPT teams, NSERC, Polar Shelf, AAND, FCI, FQRNT, Canada Research Chair Program, ArcticNet, Parks Canada & World Wildlife Fund.

Sea Ice: the Biophysical Picture

Thank you !

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