Primary Production and C Flow in the Chukchi Sea Land-Fast Ice-Ocean Ecosystem and Sensitivity to Environmental Factors

The recent downward trend in Arctic sea ice extent and thickness is a compelling indicator of climate change. These changes in sea ice affect the arctic marine ecosystem, which may depend on sea ice algal primary production for over 50% of the fixed C in the permanently ice-covered Arctic (Gosselin et al., 1997) and up to 25% in the surrounding marginal seas (Kirst and Wiencke, 1995). Since land-fast ice is generally the most accessible of the four sea ice regimes (perennial pack ice, coastal zone - including fast ice, seasonal pack ice and marginal ice zone), and in its own right is important in terms of aereal extent, on-going environmental changes along the coast and a platform for significant biological activity, our research group has focused on time series observations in the land-fast ice near Barrow, Alaska over the last several years. We have utilized the resultant data and those available from other research groups to develop a 1-D marine ecosystem model from which we have constructed an organic C budget based on observations including ice algal biomass (chl a), phytoplankton biomass (chl a), POC, PON, indicators of zooplankton and ice meiofaunal grazing, nutrients, in situ carbon and nutrient uptake, temperature, salinity, ice thickness and snow cover. Through model sensitivity studies, we found that doubling of the initial nutrient concentrations has a significant impact on sea ice primary production, being roughly proportional. Also, a doubling of light (PAR) shifts the exponential accumulation of sea ice algal biomass ahead approximately one week. These model results provide evidence that changes in river discharge that alter nutrient concentrations, and changes in the light regime linked to ongoing environmental changes such as sediment loading, lessening sea ice thickness, and interannual variations in snow cover significantly impact the marine ecosystem. These influences may cascade through the marine ecosystem to affect the food web and hence biogeochemical cycling in the Arctic. References: Gosselin, M., M. Levasseur, P. A. Wheeler, R.A. Horner, and B.C. Booth. 1997. New measurements of phytoplankton and ice algal production in the Arctic Ocean. Deep Sea Research II, 44, 1623-1644. Kirst, G.O., and C. Wiencke. 1995. Ecophysiology of polar algae. Journal of Phycology, 31, No. 2, 181-199.