Historical climate drivers and species’ ecological niche in the Beaufort Sea food web

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Author(s)Sora, Kristen J.
Author(s)Wabnitz, Colette C. C.
Author(s)Steiner, Nadja S.
Author(s)Sumaila, U. Rashid
Author(s)Hoover, Carie
Author(s)Niemi, Andrea
Author(s)Loseto, Lisa L.
Author(s)Li, Mi-Ling
Author(s)Giang, Amanda
Author(s)Gillies, Emma
Author(s)Cheung, William W. L.
Date Accessioned2024-05-16T18:08:26Z
Date Available2024-05-16T18:08:26Z
Publication Date2024-05-14
DescriptionThis article was originally published in ICES Journal of Marine Science. The version of record is available at: https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsae062. © The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of International Council for the Exploration of the Sea. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
AbstractClimate change impacts have been particularly acute and rapid in the Arctic, raising concerns about the conservation of key ecologically and culturally significant species (e.g. beluga whales, Arctic cod), with consequences for the Indigenous community groups in the region. Here, we build on an Ecopath with Ecosim model for the Canadian Beaufort Sea Shelf and Slope to examine historical (1970–2021) changes in the ecological dynamics of the food web and key species under climate change. We compare the individual and cumulative effects of (i) increased sea surface temperature; (ii) reduced sea ice extent; (iii) ocean deoxygenation; and (iv) changing ocean salinity in the ecosystem models. We found that including salinity time series in our ecosystem models reduced the diversity found within the ecosystem, and altered the trophic levels, biomass, and consumption rates of some marine mammal and fish functional groups, including the key species: beluga whales, as well as Arctic and polar cods. Inclusion of the dissolved oxygen time series showed no difference to ecosystem indicators. The model findings reveal valuable insights into the attribution of temperature and salinity on Arctic ecosystems and highlight important factors to be considered to ensure that existing conservation measures can support climate adaptation.
SponsorFunding was provided by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [Discovery Grant: RGPIN-2018–03864] through the Changing Ocean Research Unit (CORU) of the University of British Columbia (UBC), as well as funding provided through Fisheries and Oceans Canada's Aquatic Climate Change Adaptation Services Program (ACCASP).
CitationKristen J Sora, Colette C C Wabnitz, Nadja S Steiner, U Rashid Sumaila, Carie Hoover, Andrea Niemi, Lisa L Loseto, Mi-Ling Li, Amanda Giang, Emma Gillies, William W L Cheung, Historical climate drivers and species’ ecological niche in the Beaufort Sea food web, ICES Journal of Marine Science, 2024;, fsae062, https://doi.org/10.1093/icesjms/fsae062
ISSN1095-9289
URLhttps://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/34412
Languageen_US
PublisherICES Journal of Marine Science
dc.rightsAttribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywordsarctic
Keywordsclimate change impacts
Keywordsecosystem modeling
Keywordsenvironmental niche
Keywordsmultistressors
Keywordsadaptation
KeywordsMPAs
TitleHistorical climate drivers and species’ ecological niche in the Beaufort Sea food web
TypeArticle
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