From sea ice to seals: a moored marine ecosystem observatory in the Arctic

From sea ice to seals: a moored marine ecosystem observatory in the Arctic

Although Arctic marine ecosystems are changing rapidly, year-round monitoring is currently very limited and presents multiple challenges unique to this region. The Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (CEO) described here uses new sensor technologies to meet needs for continuous, high-resolution, and year-...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ocean science Vol. 14; no. 6; pp. 1423 - 1433
Main Authors: Hauri, Claudine, Danielson, Seth, McDonnell, Andrew M. P, Hopcroft, Russell R, Winsor, Peter, Shipton, Peter, Lalande, Catherine, Stafford, Kathleen M, Horne, John K, Cooper, Lee W, Grebmeier, Jacqueline M, Mahoney, Andrew, Maisch, Klara, McCammon, Molly, Statscewich, Hank, Sybrandy, Andy, Weingartner, Thomas
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Katlenburg-Lindau Copernicus GmbH 19-11-2018
Copernicus Publications
Subjects:
Annual cycles
Arctic research
Blooms
Columnar structure
Connectors
Couplings
Dissolved oxygen
Ecological monitoring
Ecosystem management
Ecosystems
Environmental changes
Evaluation
Evolution
Extreme environments
Forecasts and trends
Geophysical observatories
Ice
Ice cover
Marine ecosystems
Marine mammals
Modelling
Observatories
Organic chemistry
Oxygen
Physical properties
Phytoplankton
Polar environments
Sea ice
Sea ice temperatures
Seals
Ships
Vertical migration
Water column
Water temperature
Zooplankton
Arctic
Arctic region
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Summary:Although Arctic marine ecosystems are changing rapidly, year-round monitoring is currently very limited and presents multiple challenges unique to this region. The Chukchi Ecosystem Observatory (CEO) described here uses new sensor technologies to meet needs for continuous, high-resolution, and year-round observations across all levels of the ecosystem in the biologically productive and seasonally ice-covered Chukchi Sea off the northwest coast of Alaska. This mooring array records a broad suite of variables that facilitate observations, yielding better understanding of physical, chemical, and biological couplings, phenologies, and the overall state of this Arctic shelf marine ecosystem. While cold temperatures and 8 months of sea ice cover present challenging conditions for the operation of the CEO, this extreme environment also serves as a rigorous test bed for innovative ecosystem monitoring strategies. Here, we present data from the 2015–2016 CEO deployments that provide new perspectives on the seasonal evolution of sea ice, water column structure, and physical properties, annual cycles in nitrate, dissolved oxygen, phytoplankton blooms, and export, zooplankton abundance and vertical migration, the occurrence of Arctic cod, and vocalizations of marine mammals such as bearded seals. These integrated ecosystem observations are being combined with ship-based observations and modeling to produce a time series that documents biological community responses to changing seasonal sea ice and water temperatures while establishing a scientific basis for ecosystem management.
ISSN:1812-0792
1812-0784
1812-0792
DOI:10.5194/os-14-1423-2018