Bioluminescence in the high Arctic during the polar night

Berge, Jørgen; Båtnes, Anna Solvang; Johnsen, Geir; Blackwell, Susan; Moline, Mark A.

doi:10.1007/s00227-011-1798-0

Cited by 49 publications

(40 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Most of the meroplankton seasonal occurrence seems to be driven by spring and summer nutrient availability in the water column. However, our settlement experiment recorded recruitment also in the winter and thus further stresses that winter ecology in the high Arctic is a major gap in our current knowledge and understanding of Arctic marine ecosystems (e.g., Berge et al 2009Berge et al , 2012. Additionally, these results reveal strategies in the life history of Arctic benthic organisms.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

“…Despite the enormous pressure on polar systems caused by factors which include increasing seawater temperature and the disappearance of the permanent ice, we still do not have sufficient knowledge about the current state of a number of biological processes (see e.g., Berge et al 2012). Some examples are the intra-annual seasonality of meroplankton occurrence, timing of benthic organisms' recruitment, and the factors driving their abundance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Seasonality of occurrence and recruitment of Arctic marine benthic invertebrate larvae in relation to environmental variables

et al. 2013

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The Arctic system is one of the regions most influenced by ongoing global climate change, but there are still critical gaps in our knowledge regarding a substantial number of biological processes. This is especially true for processes taking place during the Arctic winter but also for seasonal processes, such as the dynamics of intra-annual meroplankton occurrence. Here, we report on a 1-year study of meroplankton seasonal variability from a fjordic system in the Arctic Archipelago of Svalbard. The study combines an examination of phytoplankton, zooplankton, and hard bottom benthic settlement with measurements of environmental parameters (e.g., water temperature, particulate organic matter, and dissolved organic carbon).Samples were taken on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, and a total of 11 taxa representing six phyla of meroplankton were recorded over a 1-year period from January to December 2007. The occurrence of benthic larvae varied between the seasons, reaching a maximum in both abundance and taxon richness in late spring through early summer. Meroplanktonic larvae were absent in winter. However, settlement of benthic organisms was also recorded during the winter months (February and March), which indicates individual trade-offs related to timing of reproduction and competition. In addition, it suggests that these larvae are not relying on higher summer nutrient concentrations, but instead are dependent on alternative food sources. In parallel with meroplankton abundance, all other measured parameters, both biological (e.g., phyto-and zooplankton abundance and diversity) and physical (e.g., particulate organic matter), exhibited seasonal variability with peaks in the warmer months of the year.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 61%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonality of occurrence and recruitment of Arctic marine benthic invertebrate larvae in relation to environmental variables

et al. 2013

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“…Some of the prey items such as Thysanoessa spp. (krill) are known to be bioluminescent [37], which might act as a cue for detecting these organisms in the dark [37][38][39]. However, there are clearly other search mechanisms that need to be investigated, such as acoustic and/or tactile mechanisms, as suggested for cormorants and petrels [36,40].…”

Section: Seabird and Fish Communitiesmentioning

confidence: 97%

Unexpected Levels of Biological Activity during the Polar Night Offer New Perspectives on a Warming Arctic

et al. 2015

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The current understanding of Arctic ecosystems is deeply rooted in the classical view of a bottom-up controlled system with strong physical forcing and seasonality in primary-production regimes. Consequently, the Arctic polar night is commonly disregarded as a time of year when biological activities are reduced to a minimum due to a reduced food supply. Here, based upon a multidisciplinary ecosystem-scale study from the polar night at 79°N, we present an entirely different view. Instead of an ecosystem that has entered a resting state, we document a system with high activity levels and biological interactions across most trophic levels. In some habitats, biological diversity and presence of juvenile stages were elevated in winter months compared to the more productive and sunlit periods. Ultimately, our results suggest a different perspective regarding ecosystem function that will be of importance for future environmental management and decision making, especially at a time when Arctic regions are experiencing accelerated environmental change [1].

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“…Most deep-sea animals and many bacteria are bioluminescent and high levels of bioluminescence have been detected in the deep Mediterranean for periods lasting several months (Tamburini et al, 2013). This process also occurs in the Arctic, but the reported photic levels (Berge et al, 2012) are lower than those observed in the Mediterranean. When a full Moon occurs at high latitudes, it provides light over prolonged periods.…”

Section: Seasonal Trends In Pr Presence and Expressionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Winter diversity and expression of proteorhodopsin genes in a polar ocean

et al. 2015

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Mixotrophy is a valuable functional trait used by microbes when environmental conditions vary broadly or resources are limited. In the sunlit waters of the ocean, photoheterotrophy, a form of mixotrophy, is often mediated by proteorhodopsin (PR), a seven helices transmembrane protein binding the retinal chromophore. Altogether, they allow bacteria to capture photic energy for sensory and proton gradient formation cell functions. The seasonal occurrence and diversity of the gene coding for PR in cold oligotrophic polar oceans is not known and PR expression has not yet been reported. Here we show that PR is widely distributed among bacterial taxa, and that PR expression decreased markedly during the winter months in the Arctic Ocean. Gammaproteobacteria-like PR sequences were always dominant. However, within the second most common affiliation, there was a transition from Flavobacteria-like PR in early winter to Alphaproteobacteria-like PR in late winter. The phylogenetic shifts followed carbon dynamics, where patterns in expression were consistent with community succession, as identified by DNA community fingerprinting. Although genes for PR were always present, the trend in decreasing transcripts from January to February suggested reduced functional utility of PR during winter. Under winter darkness, sustained expression suggests that PR may continue to be useful for non-ATP forming functions, such as environmental sensing or small solute transport. The persistence of PR expression in winter among some bacterial groups may offer a competitive advantage, where its multifunctionality enhances microbial survival under harsh polar conditions.

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Bioluminescence in the high Arctic during the polar night

Cited by 49 publications

References 24 publications

Seasonality of occurrence and recruitment of Arctic marine benthic invertebrate larvae in relation to environmental variables

Seasonality of occurrence and recruitment of Arctic marine benthic invertebrate larvae in relation to environmental variables

Unexpected Levels of Biological Activity during the Polar Night Offer New Perspectives on a Warming Arctic

Winter diversity and expression of proteorhodopsin genes in a polar ocean

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