Recent changes in phytoplankton communities associated with rapid regional climate change along the western Antarctic Peninsula.
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.
Montes-Hugo
Martin
M
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
Doney
Scott C
SC
Ducklow
Hugh W
HW
Fraser
William
W
Martinson
Douglas
D
Stammerjohn
Sharon E
SE
Schofield
Oscar
O
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
D002734:Chlorophyll; D000077194:Chlorophyll A