title: Melting barriers to faunal exchange across ocean basins.
abstract: Accelerated loss of sea ice in the Arctic is opening routes connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans for longer periods each year. These changes may increase the ease and frequency with which marine birds and mammals move between the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins. Indeed, recent observations of birds and mammals suggest these movements have intensified in recent decades. Reconnection of the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean basins will present both challenges to marine ecosystem conservation and an unprecedented opportunity to examine the ecological and evolutionary consequences of interoceanic faunal exchange in real time. To understand these changes and implement effective conservation of marine ecosystems, we need to further develop modeling efforts to predict the rate of dispersal and consequences of faunal exchange. These predictions can be tested by closely monitoring wildlife dispersal through the Arctic Ocean and using modern methods to explore the ecological and evolutionary consequences of these movements.
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce, Fort Pierce, FL, 34949, USA.
authors.forename: C Seabird
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: McKeon
authors.affiliation: National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, PO Box 37012, MRC 163, Washington, DC, 20013-7012, USA.
authors.forename: Michele X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, York College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York, Jamaica, NY, 11451, USA.
authors.forename: S Elizabeth
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Alter
authors.affiliation: Point Blue Conservation Science, 3820 Cypress Drive, Suite 11, Petaluma, CA, 94954, USA.
authors.forename: Nathaniel E
authors.initials: NE
authors.lastname: Seavy
authors.affiliation: UC Santa Cruz Institute of Marine Sciences, 110 Shaffer Road, Santa Cruz, CA, 95060, USA.
authors.forename: Eric D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Crandall
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Barshis
authors.affiliation: Respiratory Health Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, 1095 Willowdale Rd., MS 2800, Morgantown, WV, 26505, USA.
authors.forename: Ethan D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Fechter-Leggett
authors.affiliation: Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Management, University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1910 East-West Road, Sherman 101, Honolulu, HI, 96822, USA.
authors.forename: Kirsten L L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Oleson
mesh_terms: D025041:Animal Migration; D000818:Animals; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D009792:Oceans and Seas
keywords: arctic; biodiversity; birds; marine mammals; range shift