title: Recent changes in phytoplankton communities associated with rapid regional climate change along the western Antarctic Peninsula.
abstract: The climate of the western shelf of the Antarctic Peninsula (WAP) is undergoing a transition from a cold-dry polar-type climate to a warm-humid sub-Antarctic-type climate. Using three decades of satellite and field data, we document that ocean biological productivity, inferred from chlorophyll a concentration (Chl a), has significantly changed along the WAP shelf. Summertime surface Chl a (summer integrated Chl a approximately 63% of annually integrated Chl a) declined by 12% along the WAP over the past 30 years, with the largest decreases equatorward of 63 degrees S and with substantial increases in Chl a occurring farther south. The latitudinal variation in Chl a trends reflects shifting patterns of ice cover, cloud formation, and windiness affecting water-column mixing. Regional changes in phytoplankton coincide with observed changes in krill (Euphausia superba) and penguin populations.
authors.affiliation: Coastal Ocean Observation Lab, Institute of Marine and Coastal Sciences, School of Environmental and Biological Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, USA. montes@marine.rutgers.edu
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montes-Hugo
authors.forename: Scott C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Doney
authors.forename: Hugh W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Ducklow
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martinson
authors.forename: Sharon E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Stammerjohn
authors.forename: Oscar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Schofield
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D018533:Biomass; D002734:Chlorophyll / Q000032:analysis*; D000077194:Chlorophyll A; D003081:Cold Climate; D017753:Ecosystem; D033201:Euphausiacea; D005843:Geography; D046448:Ice Cover; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D010839:Phytoplankton / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development*; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012621:Seasons; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D046429:Spheniscidae; D013696:Temperature; D014919:Wind
chemical_list: D002734:Chlorophyll; D000077194:Chlorophyll A