ALBERT

Beschreibung: Aim: Species distribution models (SDMs) are essential tools in ecology and conservation. However, the scarcity of visual sightings of marine mammals in remote polar areas hinders the effective application of SDMs there. Passive acoustic monitoring (PAM) data provide year-round information and overcome foul weather limitations faced by visual surveys. However, the use of PAM data in SDMs has been sparse so far. Here, we use PAM-based SDMs to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution of the critically endangered Antarctic blue whale in the Weddell Sea. Location: The Weddell Sea. Methods: We used presence-only dynamic SDMs employing visual sightings and PAM detections in independent models. We compared the two independent models with a third combined model that integrated both visual and PAM data, aiming at leveraging the advantages of each data type: the extensive spatial extent of visual data and the broader temporal/environmental range of PAM data. Results: Visual and PAM data prove complementary, as indicated by a low spatial overlap between daily predictions and the low predictability of each model at detections of other data types. Combined data models reproduced suitable habitats as given by both independent models. Visual data models indicate areas close to the sea ice edge (SIE) and with low-to-moderate sea ice concentrations (SIC) as suitable, while PAM data models identified suitable habitats at a broader range of distances to SIE and relatively higher SIC. Main Conclusions: The results demonstrate the potential of PAM data to predict year-round marine mammal habitat suitability at large spatial scales. We provide reasons for discrepancies between SDMs based on either data type and give methodological recommendations on using PAM data in SDMs. Combining visual and PAM data in future SDMs is promising for studying vocalized animals, particularly when using recent advances in integrated distribution modelling methods.

Beschreibung: Many of the global challenges that confront humanity are interlinked in a dynamic complex network, with multiple feedback loops, nonlinear interactions and interdependencies that make it difficult, if not impossible, to consider individual threats in isolation. These challenges are mainly dealt with, however, by considering individual threats in isolation (at least in political terms). The mitigation of dual climate and biodiversity threats, for example, is linked to a univariate 1.5°C global warming boundary and a global area conservation target of 30% by 2030. The situation has been somewhat improved by efforts to account for interactions through multidimensional target setting, adaptive and open management and market-based decision pathways. But the fundamental problem still remains—that complex systems such as those formed by the network of global threats have emergent properties that are more than the sum of their parts. We must learn how to deal with or live with these properties if we are to find effective ways to cope with the threats, individually and collectively. Here, we argue that recent progresses in complex systems research and related fields have enhanced our ability to analyse and model such entwined systems to the extent that it offers the promise of a new approach to sustainability. We discuss how this may be achieved, both in theory and in practice, and how human cultural factors play an important but neglected role that could prove vital to achieving success. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Beschreibung: The long-term dynamics of microbial communities across geographic, hydrographic, and biogeochemical gradients in the Arctic Ocean are largely unknown. To address this, we annually sampled polar, mixed, and Atlantic water masses of the Fram Strait (2015–2019; 5–100 m depth) to assess microbiome composition, substrate concentrations, and oceanographic parameters. Longitude and water depth were the major determinants (~30%) of microbial community variability. Bacterial alpha diversity was highest in lower-photic polar waters. Community composition shifted from west to east, with the prevalence of, for example, Dadabacteriales and Thiotrichales in Arctic- and Atlantic-influenced waters, respectively. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon peaked in the western, compared to carbohydrates in the chlorophyll-maximum of eastern Fram Strait. Interannual differences due to the time of sampling, which varied between early (June 2016/2018) and late (September 2019) phytoplankton bloom stages, illustrated that phytoplankton composition and resulting availability of labile substrates influence bacterial dynamics. We identified 10 species clusters with stable environmental correlations, representing signature populations of distinct ecosystem states. In context with published metagenomic evidence, our microbial-biogeochemical inventory of a key Arctic region establishes a benchmark to assess ecosystem dynamics and the imprint of climate change.

Beschreibung: Significant progress in permafrost carbon science made over the past decades include the identification of vast permafrost carbon stocks, the development of new pan‐Arctic permafrost maps, an increase in terrestrial measurement sites for CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 and methane fluxes, and important factors affecting carbon cycling, including vegetation changes, periods of soil freezing and thawing, wildfire, and other disturbance events. Process‐based modeling studies now include key elements of permafrost carbon cycling and advances in statistical modeling and inverse modeling enhance understanding of permafrost region C budgets. By combining existing data syntheses and model outputs, the permafrost region is likely a wetland methane source and small terrestrial ecosystem CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 sink with lower net CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 uptake toward higher latitudes, excluding wildfire emissions. For 2002–2014, the strongest CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 sink was located in western Canada (median: −52 g C m〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 y〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉) and smallest sinks in Alaska, Canadian tundra, and Siberian tundra (medians: −5 to −9 g C m〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 y〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉). Eurasian regions had the largest median wetland methane fluxes (16–18 g CH〈jats:sub〉4〈/jats:sub〉 m〈jats:sup〉−2〈/jats:sup〉 y〈jats:sup〉−1〈/jats:sup〉). Quantifying the regional scale carbon balance remains challenging because of high spatial and temporal variability and relatively low density of observations. More accurate permafrost region carbon fluxes require: (a) the development of better maps characterizing wetlands and dynamics of vegetation and disturbances, including abrupt permafrost thaw; (b) the establishment of new year‐round CO〈jats:sub〉2〈/jats:sub〉 and methane flux sites in underrepresented areas; and (c) improved models that better represent important permafrost carbon cycle dynamics, including non‐growing season emissions and disturbance effects.〈/jats:p〉

Beschreibung: Mineral dust accumulated on the ocean floor is an important archive for reconstructing past atmospheric circulation changes and climatological conditions in the source areas. Dust emitted from Southern Hemisphere dust sources is widely deposited over the oceans. However, there are few records of dust deposition over the open ocean, and a large need for extended geographical coverage exists. We present a large data set (134 surface sediment samples) of Late Holocene dust deposition from seafloor surface sediments covering the entire South Atlantic Ocean. Polymodal grain-size distributions of the lithogenic fraction indicate that the sediments are composed of multiple sediment components. By using end-member modeling, we attempt to disentangle the dust signal from non-aeolian sediments. Combined with 230Th-normalized lithogenic fluxes, we quantified the specific deposition fluxes for mineral dust, crrent-sorted sediments and ice-rafted debris (IRD). Although the method could not completely separate the different components in every region, it shows that dust deposition off the most prominent dust source for the South Atlantic Ocean—southern South America—amounts up to approximately 0.7 g cm−2 Kyr−1 and decreases downwind. Bottom-current-sorted sediments and IRD are mostly concentrated around the continental margins. The ratio of the coarse to fine dust end members reveals input from north African dust sources to the South Atlantic. The majority of the observations are in good agreement with new model simulations. This extensive and relevant data set of dust grain size and deposition fluxes to the South Atlantic could be used to calibrate and validate further model simulations.

Beschreibung: Salps have attracted attention as zooplankton organisms that may be able to expand their habitat range and increase their ecological importance in the face of ongoing global warming. Due to their gelatinous nature, unique feeding strategy, and reproductive ecology such changes could have profound impacts on regional marine ecosystems. While their role in the regional carbon cycle is receiving attention, our knowledge of their physiology and life cycle is still limited. This knowledge gap is mainly due to their fragile gelatinous nature, which makes it difficult to capture and maintain intact specimen in the laboratory. We present here a modified kreisel tank system that has been tested onboard a research vessel with the Southern Ocean salp Salpa thompsoni and at a research station with Salpa fusiformis and Thalia democratica from the Mediterranean Sea. Successful maintenance over days to weeks allowed us to obtain relative growth and developmental rates comparable to in situ field samples of S. thompsoni and S. fusiformis, and provided insights into previously unknown features of their life cycle (e.g., testes development). Our results show that traditional methods of estimating growth, such as cohort analysis, may lead to a general overestimation of growth rates and neglect individual strategies (e.g., shrinkage), which can affect the results and conclusions drawn from population dynamic models. By providing a starting point for the successful maintenance of different species, comparable experiments on the physiology of salps is made possible. This will contribute to refining model parameters and improving the reliability of the predictions.

Beschreibung: The availability of silicon (Si) in the ocean plays an important role in regulating biogeochemical and ecological processes. The Si budget of the Arctic Ocean appears balanced, with inputs equivalent to outputs, though it is unclear how a changing climate might aggravate this balance. In this study, we focus on Si cycling in Arctic coastal areas and continental shelf sediments to better constrain the Arctic Ocean Si budget. We provide the first estimate of amorphous Si (ASi) loading from erosion of coastal Yedoma deposits (30–90 Gmol yr−1), demonstrating comparable rates to particulate Si loading from rivers (10–90 Gmol yr−1). We found a positive relationship between surface sediment ASi and organic matter content on continental shelves. Combining these values with published Arctic shelf sediment properties and burial rates we estimate 70 Gmol Si yr−1 is buried on Arctic continental shelves, equivalent to 4.5% of all Si inputs to the Arctic Ocean. Sediment dissolved Si fluxes increased with distance from river mouths along cruise transects of shelf regions influenced by major rivers in the Laptev and East Siberian seas. On an annual basis, we estimate that Arctic shelf sediments recycle approximately up to twice as much DSi (680 Gmol Si) as is loaded from rivers (340–500 Gmol Si).

Beschreibung: The coastal ocean contributes to regulating atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations by taking up carbon dioxide (CO2) and releasing nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4). In this second phase of the Regional Carbon Cycle Assessment and Processes (RECCAP2), we quantify global coastal ocean fluxes of CO2, N2O and CH4 using an ensemble of global gap-filled observation-based products and ocean biogeochemical models. The global coastal ocean is a net sink of CO2 in both observational products and models, but the magnitude of the median net global coastal uptake is ∼60% larger in models (−0.72 vs. −0.44 PgC year−1, 1998–2018, coastal ocean extending to 300 km offshore or 1,000 m isobath with area of 77 million km2). We attribute most of this model-product difference to the seasonality in sea surface CO2 partial pressure at mid- and high-latitudes, where models simulate stronger winter CO2 uptake. The coastal ocean CO2 sink has increased in the past decades but the available time-resolving observation-based products and models show large discrepancies in the magnitude of this increase. The global coastal ocean is a major source of N2O (+0.70 PgCO2-e year−1 in observational product and +0.54 PgCO2-e year−1 in model median) and CH4 (+0.21 PgCO2-e year−1 in observational product), which offsets a substantial proportion of the coastal CO2 uptake in the net radiative balance (30%–60% in CO2-equivalents), highlighting the importance of considering the three greenhouse gases when examining the influence of the coastal ocean on climate.

Beschreibung: 〈jats:title〉Abstract〈/jats:title〉〈jats:p〉Erosion of permafrost coasts due to climate warming releases large quantities of organic carbon (OC) into the Arctic Ocean. While burial of permafrost OC in marine sediments potentially limits degradation, resuspension of sediments in the nearshore zone potentially enhances degradation and greenhouse gas production, adding to the “permafrost carbon feedback.” Recent studies, focusing on bulk sediments, suggest that permafrost OC derived from coastal erosion is predominantly deposited close to shore. However, bulk approaches disregard sorting processes in the coastal zone, which strongly influence the OC distribution and fate. We studied soils and sediments along a transect from the fast‐eroding shoreline of Herschel Island—〈jats:italic〉Qikiqtaruk〈/jats:italic〉 (Yukon, Canada) to a depositional basin offshore. Sample material was fractionated by density (1.8 g cm〈jats:sup〉−3〈/jats:sup〉) and size (63 μm), separating loose OC from mineral‐associated OC. Each fraction was analyzed for element content (TOC, TN), carbon isotopes (δ〈jats:sup〉13〈/jats:sup〉C, Δ〈jats:sup〉14〈/jats:sup〉C), molecular biomarkers (〈jats:italic〉n〈/jats:italic〉‐alkanes, 〈jats:italic〉n〈/jats:italic〉‐alkanoic acids, lignin phenols, cutin acids), and mineral surface area. The OC partitioning between fractions changes considerably along the transect, highlighting the importance of hydrodynamic sorting in the nearshore zone. Additionally, OC and biomarker loadings decrease along the land‐ocean transect, indicating significant loss of OC during transport. However, molecular proxies for degradation show contrasting trends, suggesting that OC losses are not always well reflected in its degradation state. This study, using fraction partitioning that crosses land‐ocean boundaries in a way not done before, aids to disentangle sorting processes from degradation patterns, and provides quantitative insight into losses of thawed and eroded permafrost OC.〈/jats:p〉