Unexpected Levels of Biological Activity during the Polar Night Offer New Perspectives on a Warming Arctic


Autoria(s): Berge, Jorgen; Daase, Malin; Renaud, Paul E.; Ambrose, William G., Jr.; Darnis, Gerald; Last, Kim S.; Leu, Eva; Cohen, Jonathan H.; Johnsen, Geir; Moline, Mark A.; Cottier, Finlo; Varpe, Oystein; Shunatova, Natalia; Balazy, Piotr; Morata, Nathalie; Massabuau, Jean-charles; Falk-petersen, Stig; Kosobokova, Ksenia; Hoppe, Clara J. M.; Weslawski, Jan Marcin; Kuklinski, Piotr; Legezynska, Joanna; Nikishina, Daria; Cusa, Marine; Kedra, Monika; Wlodarska-kowalczuk, Maria; Vogedes, Daniel; Camus, Lionel; Tran, Damien; Michaud, Emma; Gabrielsen, Tove M.; Granovitch, Andrei; Gonchar, Anya; Krapp, Rupert; Callesen, Trine A.
Data(s)

01/10/2015

Resumo

The current understanding of Arctic ecosystems is deeply rooted in the classical view of a bottom-up controlled system with strong physical forcing and seasonality in primary-production regimes. Consequently, the Arctic polar night is commonly disregarded as a time of year when biological activities are reduced to a minimum due to a reduced food supply. Here, based upon a multidisciplinary ecosystem-scale study from the polar night at 79 degrees N, we present an entirely different view. Instead of an ecosystem that has entered a resting state, we document a system with high activity levels and biological interactions across most trophic levels. In some habitats, biological diversity and presence of juvenile stages were elevated in winter months compared to the more productive and sunlit periods. Ultimately, our results suggest a different perspective regarding ecosystem function that will be of importance for future environmental management and decision making, especially at a time when Arctic regions are experiencing accelerated environmental change [1].

Formato

application/pdf

Identificador

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00288/39885/38620.pdf

DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2015.08.024

http://archimer.ifremer.fr/doc/00288/39885/

Idioma(s)

eng

Publicador

Cell Press

Relação

info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/308392/EU//DEVOTES

Direitos

2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess

restricted use

Fonte

Current Biology (0960-9822) (Cell Press), 2015-10 , Vol. 25 , N. 19 , P. 2555-2561

Tipo

text

Publication

info:eu-repo/semantics/article