Ecological Consequences of Sea-Ice Decline

@article{Post2013EcologicalCO,
  title={Ecological Consequences of Sea-Ice Decline},
  author={Eric Post and Uma S. Bhatt and Cecilia M. Bitz and Jedediah F. Brodie and Tara L Fulton and Mark Hebblewhite and Jeffrey T. Kerby and Susan Kutz and Ian Stirling and Donald A. Walker},
  journal={Science},
  year={2013},
  volume={341},
  pages={519 - 524}
}
After a decade with nine of the lowest arctic sea-ice minima on record, including the historically low minimum in 2012, we synthesize recent developments in the study of ecological responses to sea-ice decline. Sea-ice loss emerges as an important driver of marine and terrestrial ecological dynamics, influencing productivity, species interactions, population mixing, gene flow, and pathogen and disease transmission. Major challenges in the near future include assigning clearer attribution to sea… 
View on AAAS
myweb.facstaff.wwu.edu
449 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
17
Background Citations
195
Methods Citations
2
Results Citations
3

449 Citations

Sea-ice algal phenology in a warmer Arctic

Diverse latitudinal responses indicate that the impact of declining sea ice on Arctic sympagic production is both large and complex, with consequent trophic and phenological cascades expected in the rest of the food web.

Indirect effects of sea ice loss on summer‐fall habitat and behaviour for sympatric populations of an Arctic marine predator

Climate change is fundamentally altering habitats, with complex consequences for species across the globe. The Arctic has warmed 2–3 times faster than the global average, and unprecedented sea ice…

Responses of Antarctic Marine and Freshwater Ecosystems to Changing Ice Conditions

Polar regions are warming more rapidly than lower latitudes, and climate models predict that this trend will continue into the coming decades. Despite these observations and predictions, relatively…

Advancing plant phenology and reduced herbivore production in a terrestrial system associated with sea ice decline

According to the time series analyses presented here, an ongoing advance in plant phenology at this site is attributable to the accelerating decline in Arctic sea ice, and contributes to declining large herbivore reproductive performance via trophic mismatch.

Implications of Arctic Sea Ice Decline for the Earth System

Arctic sea ice decline has led to an amplification of surface warming and is projected to continue to decline from anthropogenic forcing, although the exact timing of ice-free summers is uncertain…

Arctic marine mammal population status, sea ice habitat loss, and conservation recommendations for the 21st century

  • K. LaidreH. Stern F. Ugarte
  • Environmental Science
    Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology
  • 2015
Recommendations for effective AMM conservation are maintained and improved by local, federal, and international partners; recognize spatial and temporal variability in AMM subpopulation response to climate change; implement monitoring programs with clear goals; mitigate cumulative impacts of increased human activity; and recognize the limits of current protected species legislation.

Divergence of Arctic shrub growth associated with sea ice decline

It is suggested that moisture limitation, associated with declining SIE, might inhibit the positive effects of warming on shrub growth over a considerable part of the terrestrial Arctic, thereby complicating predictions of vegetation change and future tundra productivity.

Northward Expansion and Intensification of Phytoplankton Growth During the Early Ice‐Free Season in Arctic

In the last decades, reduction of the ice cover has been documented to affect the structure and the functioning of Arctic marine ecosystems. One direct consequence is earlier phytoplankton spring…

A multi-proxy reconstruction of sea ice extent and primary productivity during Marine Isotope Stage 11 in the Bering Sea

The ongoing decline in Arctic sea ice extent has prompted concerns about the fate of sea ice in the future, and the stability of sea ice-dependent ecosystems. By studying the natural variability of…

Sea-ice induced growth decline in Arctic shrubs

An autoregressive plant growth model integrating effects of biological and climatic conditions for analysing individual ring-width growth time series is introduced, finding an overall negative effect of the retreating June sea-ice extent was found on the annual growth.
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 57 REFERENCES

Circumpolar Arctic Tundra Vegetation Change Is Linked to Sea Ice Decline

Abstract Linkages between diminishing Arctic sea ice and changes in Arctic terrestrial ecosystems have not been previously demonstrated. Here, the authors use a newly available Arctic Normalized…

Sea ice phenology and timing of primary production pulses in the Arctic Ocean

Phenological variability in primary production is likely to have consequences for higher trophic levels, particularly for the zooplankton grazers, whose main food source is composed of the dually pulsed algae production of the Arctic.

Effects of climate warming on polar bears: a review of the evidence.

Evidence that documents how loss of sea ice negatively affects polar bears' long-term survival is summarized, with quantifiable negative effects being documented first in the more southerly subpopulations, such as those in Hudson Bay or the southern Beaufort Sea.

Consequences of changing sea-ice cover for primary and secondary producers in the European Arctic shelf seas: Timing, quantity, and quality

Perspectives on the Arctic's Shrinking Sea-Ice Cover

Although the large scatter between individual model simulations leads to much uncertainty as to when a seasonally ice-free Arctic Ocean might be realized, this transition to a new arctic state may be rapid once the ice thins to a more vulnerable state.

Massive Phytoplankton Blooms Under Arctic Sea Ice

Evidence suggests that under-ice phytoplankton blooms may be more widespread over nutrient-rich Arctic continental shelves and that satellite-based estimates of annual primary production in these waters may be underestimated by up to 10-fold.

Reconstructed changes in Arctic sea ice over the past 1,450 years

A network of high-resolution terrestrial proxies from the circum-Arctic region is used to reconstruct past extents of summer sea ice, and shows that both the duration and magnitude of the current decline in sea ice seem to be unprecedented for the past 1,450 years.

Ecological Dynamics Across the Arctic Associated with Recent Climate Change

These rapid changes in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems, presage changes at lower latitudes that will affect natural resources, food production, and future climate buffering, and highlight areas of ecological research that deserve priority as the Arctic continues to warm.

Current state and trends in Canadian Arctic marine ecosystems: II. Heterotrophic food web, pelagic-benthic coupling, and biodiversity

As part of the Canadian contribution to the International Polar Year (IPY), several major international research programs have focused on offshore arctic marine ecosystems. The general goal of these…

Footprints of climate change in the Arctic marine ecosystem

Evidence of how climate change has already resulted in clearly discernable changes in marine Arctic ecosystems is reviewed, finding a total of 51 reports of documented changes in Arctic marine biota in response to climate change.
...