Climate and the Arctic Calanus complex

Climate and the Arctic Calanus complex
Stig Falk-Petersen, Haakon Hop, Eva Leu, A Wold
Norwegian Polar Institute
and
Janne Søreide, Jørgen Berge, UNIS
Sun dogs, the Amundsen Gulf, minus 40 degrees C
Arctic Change, Quebec, December 2008
Content
1. IPY Calanus activity
2. Climate change takes place on all (time) scales
3. Ecosystem ( Calanus) adaptation to climate change
PAN-AME (IPY-26)
The productive Arctic
Arctic observatories
North of Nordaustlandet
Amundsen Gulf
http://www.nfh.uit.no/arctos
Climate swings, decades and longer
Record northerly (82°N) location of the ice edge in autumn 2004 and 2007 not
8 3 since 1751
observed
2004
82
*
81
1658 Carl 10. Gustav
Latitude
80
79
78
77
76
75
Y ear
White line = August ice boarder position 10 year mean
Blue bars = open water
Red line = Deviation from the Northern Hemisphere
Vinje 1999
mean temperature
Falk-Petersen et al. 2008
00
20
19
80
60
19
40
19
20
19
00
19
80
18
60
18
40
18
20
18
00
18
80
17
60
17
40
17
20
17
00
17
80
16
60
16
40
16
20
16
00
16
15
80
74
Extreme April (winter) ice location.
Area available for “spring blooms”
Whalers Bay
Svalbard
Bjørnøya
No
rw
ay
Gre
enla
nd
Zemlja
Franca Iosifa
Østerhus 98/10
1769
1866
1966
1995
Torgny Vinje
Climate swings between years
August 2007 versus 2008
The concept of the Arctic phytoplankton bloom
(ice cover modifies light available)
Falk-Petersen et al. (2008)
Arctic Calanus
The most important animals in
high latitude seas:
Calanus species are
converting low energy sugar
to high energy animal fat
Did climate change create Calanus?
Diatoms and Calanus
The Cenozoic record of diatoms
and
the appearance of the copepod super families (Calanus)
occurred 65 MYA and
coincides with
• expansion of the polar ice cap
• cooling of the ocean
• thermohaline circulation
• seasonality of production
The Arctic Calanus
The genus Calanus is engineered to:
1) feed on pulses of energy
2) convert low energy sugars to a high energy lipids
3) store energy in strongly pulsed systems.
This is further support by a unique biosynthetic
pathway which lead to the formation of wax ester
Arctic Calanus
• Our hypotheses is that the timing of the bloom
determines the life strategy of the individual species and
biodiversity of the Arctic Calanus complex
• The Arctic Calanus herbivores has adapted to
climate variability:
– as individuals by accumulating energy reserves (lipids)
– as “species” by developing different life strategy
Copepod life histories
Summer
Winter
Winter
Surface waters
(0-200m)
Deep
(1000-2000m)
What will happen if the sea was ice covered?
Øystein Varpe
Life cycle strategy
Falk-Petersen et al. 2007, 2008
Growth of the different copepodite stages
Falk-Petersen et al. 2007
Size and lipid content
C. hyperboreus
C. hyperboreus is 2 times longer than
C. finmarchicus
Calanus hyperboreus has 26 and
C. glacialis 10 times as much energy as
C. finmarchicus
C. glacialis
C. finmarchicus
Arctic bloom and Calanus
• Calanus finmarchicus is a deep-water species adapted a regular
yearly spring bloom => the Norwegian Sea
• Calanus glacialis is a shelf species adapted to large variations in
the timing and length of the annual bloom => northern Barents
Sea, Siberian and American shelves
• Calanus hyperboreus is a deepwater species adapted to large interannual variations in ice cover and algal blooms => central Arctic
Ocean, Greenland Sea and Fram Strait
Falk-Petersen et al. 2008
FOOD WEB SCENARIO – CLIMATE CHANGE
Cold period
Favor Arctic species: C. glacialis
Sufficient energy for little auk
Falk-Petersen et al., 2007
Warm period
Favor Atlantic species: C. finmarchicus
Small and less lipids-rich ⇒ No little auk
iIcrease in pelaic fish and minkewhale
Ongoing research on the Arctic Calanus complex
• Climate effects on food quality and trophic transfer
• Timing of primary production relative to the ice break up
• Food quality changes in ice algae and phytoplankton over time
• Timing of the seasonal ascent / descent of Calanus
• Food sources (quality) available for Calanus (glacialis) during
the reproductive development?
• Food chain energy transfer