Recent Marine Heatwaves Affect Marine Ecosystems from Plankton to Seabirds in the Northern Gulf of Alaska

Strom, Suzanne L.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2023.s1.9

Cited by 3 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Conversely, Alaska sablefish ( Anoplopoma fimbria ) had strong year classes from 2014 to 2019, and 2016 was potentially the largest recruitment recorded (Goethel et al., 2022). Other changes throughout the ecosystem included reduced primary production, changes in zooplankton community composition, reduced forage fish abundance during the 2014–2016 period followed by a strong and persistent herring year class in 2016 (Arimitsu et al., 2021; Strom & the Northern Gulf of Alaska Long‐Term Ecosystem Research Team, 2023), and increased mortality and reduced reproductive success of seabirds and marine mammals (Hastings et al., 2023; Piatt et al., 2020).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than Marine Heatwaves: A New Regime of Heat, Acidity, and Low Oxygen Compound Extreme Events in the Gulf of Alaska

Hauri,

Pagès,

Hedstrom

et al. 2024

AGU Advances

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Recent marine heatwaves in the Gulf of Alaska have had devastating impacts on species from various trophic levels. Due to climate change, total heat exposure in the upper ocean has become longer, more intense, more frequent, and more likely to happen at the same time as other environmental extremes. The combination of multiple environmental extremes can exacerbate the response of sensitive marine organisms. Our hindcast simulation provides the first indication that more than 20% of the bottom water of the Gulf of Alaska continental shelf was exposed to quadruple heat, positive hydrogen ion concentration [H+], negative aragonite saturation state (Ωarag), and negative oxygen concentration [O2] compound extreme events during the 2018–2020 marine heat wave. Natural intrusion of deep and acidified water combined with the marine heat wave triggered the first occurrence of these events in 2019. During the 2013–2016 marine heat wave, surface waters were already exposed to widespread marine heat and positive [H+] compound extreme events due to the temperature effect on the [H+]. We introduce a new Gulf of Alaska Downwelling Index (GOADI) with short‐term predictive skill, which can serve as indicator of past and near‐future positive [H+], negative Ωarag, and negative [O2] compound extreme events near the shelf seafloor. Our results suggest that the marine heat waves may have not been the sole environmental stressor that led to the observed ecosystem impacts and warrant a closer look at existing in situ inorganic carbon and other environmental data in combination with biological observations and model output.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Than Marine Heatwaves: A New Regime of Heat, Acidity, and Low Oxygen Compound Extreme Events in the Gulf of Alaska

Hauri,

Pagès,

Hedstrom

et al. 2024

AGU Advances

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conversely, Alaska sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) had strong year classes from 2014 to 2019, and 2016 was potentially the largest recruitment recorded (Goethel et al 2022). Other changes throughout the ecosystem included reduced primary production, changes in zooplankton community composition, reduced forage fish abundance during the 2014-2016 period followed by a strong and persistent herring year class in 2016 (Arimitsu et al, 2021;Strom 2023), and increased mortality and reduced reproductive success of seabirds and marine mammals (Hastings et al, 2023;Piatt et al, 2020).…”

Section: What Does This Mean For the Gulf Of Alaska Marine Ecosystem?mentioning

confidence: 99%

More than marine heatwaves: A new regime of heat, acidity, and low oxygen compound extreme events in the Gulf of Alaska

Hauri,

Pages,

Hedstrom

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Recent marine heatwaves in the Gulf of Alaska have had devastating and lasting impacts on species from various trophic levels. As a result of climate change, total heat exposure in the upper ocean has become longer, more intense, more frequent, and more likely to happen at the same time as other environmental extremes. The combination of multiple environmental extremes can exacerbate the response of sensitive marine organisms. Our hindcast simulation provides the first indication that more than 20 % of the bottom water of the Gulf of Alaska continental shelf was exposed to quadruple heat, positive [H+], negative Ωarag, and negative [O2] compound extreme events during the 2018-2020 marine heat wave. Natural intrusion of deep and acidified water combined with the marine heat wave triggered the first occurrence of these events in 2019. During the 2013-2016 marine heat wave, surface waters were already exposed to widespread marine heat and positive [H+] compound extreme events due to the temperature effect on the [H+]. We introduce a new Gulf of Alaska Downwelling Index (GOADI) with short-term predictive skill, which can serve as indicator of past and near-future positive [H+], negative Ωarag, and negative [O2] compound extreme events on the shelf. Our results suggest that the marine heat waves may have not been the sole environmental stressor that led to the observed ecosystem impacts and warrant a closer look at existing in situ inorganic carbon and other environmental data in combination with biological observations and model output.

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Modeling Planktonic Food Web Interannual Variability of the Northern Gulf of Alaska Shelf

Conte,

Fiechter,

Strom

et al. 2024

JGR Oceans

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A 25‐year (1996–2020) hindcast from a coupled physical‐biogeochemical model is evaluated with nutrients, phytoplankton and zooplankton field data and is analyzed to identify mechanisms controlling seasonal and interannual variability of the northern Gulf of Alaska (NGA) planktonic food web. Characterized by a mosaic of processes, the NGA is a biologically complex and productive marine ecosystem. Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) analysis combining abiotic and biotic variables averaged over the continental shelf reveals that light intensity is a main driver for nanophytoplankton variability during spring, and that nitrate availability is a main driver for diatoms during spring and for both phytoplankton during summer. Zooplankton variability is a combination of carry‐over effects from the previous year and bottom‐up controls from the current year, with copepods and euphausiids responding to diatoms and microzooplankton responding to nanophytoplankton. The results also demonstrate the effect of nitrate availability and phytoplankton community structure on changes in biomass and energy transfers across the planktonic food web over the entire growing season. In particular, the biomass of large copepods and euphausiids increases more significantly during years of higher relative diatom abundance, as opposed to years with higher nitrate availability. Large microzooplankton was identified as the planktonic group most sensitive to perturbations, presumably due to its central position in the food web. By quantifying the combined variability of several key planktonic functional groups over a 25‐year period, this work lays the foundation for an improved understanding of the long‐term impacts of climate change on the NGA shelf.

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Recent Marine Heatwaves Affect Marine Ecosystems from Plankton to Seabirds in the Northern Gulf of Alaska

Cited by 3 publications

References 4 publications

More Than Marine Heatwaves: A New Regime of Heat, Acidity, and Low Oxygen Compound Extreme Events in the Gulf of Alaska

More Than Marine Heatwaves: A New Regime of Heat, Acidity, and Low Oxygen Compound Extreme Events in the Gulf of Alaska

More than marine heatwaves: A new regime of heat, acidity, and low oxygen compound extreme events in the Gulf of Alaska

Modeling Planktonic Food Web Interannual Variability of the Northern Gulf of Alaska Shelf

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