Macrobenthic abundance, biomass, productivity and production in the deep Arctic ocean

The few existing studies on macrobenthic communities of the deep Arctic Ocean report low standing stocks, and confirm a gradient with declining biomass from the slopes down to the basins as commonly reported for deep-sea benthos. In this study we have further investigated the relationship of faunal abundance (N), biomass (B) as well as community production (P) with water depth, geographical latitude and sea ice concentration. The underlying dataset combines legacy data from the past 20 years, as well as recent field studies selected according to standardized quality control procedures. Community P/B and production were estimated using the multi-parameter ANN model developed by Brey (2012). We could confirm the previously described negative relationship of water depth and macrofauna standing stock in the Arctic deep-sea. Furthermore, the sea-ice cover increasing with high latitudes, correlated with decreasing abundances of down to < 200 individuals/m**2, biomasses of < 65 mg C/m**2 and P of < 75 mg C/m**2/y. Stations under influence of the seasonal ice zone (SIZ) showed much higher standing stock and P means between 400 - 1400 mg C/m**2/y; even at depths up to 3700 m. We conclude that particle flux is the key factor structuring benthic communities in the deep Arctic ocean, explaining both the low values in the ice-covered Arctic basins and the high values along the SIZ.

European mink (Mustela lutreola) and American mink (Neovison vison) detection histories in Northern Spain between 2000 and 2011

Understanding changes over time in the distribution of interacting native and invasive species that may be symptomatic of competitive exclusion is critical to identify the need for and effectiveness of management interventions. Occupancy models greatly increase the robustness of inference that can be made from presence/absence data when species are imperfectly detected, and recent novel developments allow for the quantification of the strength of interaction between pairs of species. We used a two-species multi-season occupancy model to quantify the impact of the invasive American mink on the native European mink in Spain through the analysis of their co-occurrence pattern over twelve years (2000 - 2011) in the entire Spanish range of European mink distribution, where both species were detected by live trapping but American mink were culled. We detected a negative temporal trend in the rate of occupancy of European mink and a simultaneous positive trend in the occupancy of American mink. The species co-occurred less often than expected and the native mink was more likely to become extinct from sites occupied by the invasive species. Removal of American mink resulted in a high probability of local extinction where it co-occurred with the endemic mink, but the overall increase in the probability of occupancy over the last decade indicates that the ongoing management is failing to halt its spread. More intensive culling effort where both species co-exist as well as in adjacent areas where the invasive American mink is found at high densities is required in order to stop thedecline of European mink.

EOT11a - Global Empirical Ocean Tide model from multi-mission satellite altimetry, with links to model results

EOT11a is a global (E)mpirical (O)cean (T)ide model derived in 2011 by residual analysis of multi-mission satellite (a)ltimeter data. EOT11a includes amplitudes and phases of the main astronomical tides M2, S2, N2, K2, 2N2, O1, K1, P2, and Q1, the non-linear constituent M4, the long period tides Mm and Mf, and the radiational tide S1. Ocean tides as well as loading tides are provided. EOT11a was computed by means of residual tidal analysis of multi-mission altimeter data from TOPEX/Poseidon, ERS-2, ENVISAT, and Jason-1/2, as far as acquired between September 1992 and April 2010. The resolution of 7.5'x7.5' is identical with FES2004 which was used as reference model for the residual tide analysis. The development of EOT11a was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) under grant BO1228/6-2.