• Home
  • About
  • Program
  • Logistics
  • Abstracts

Arctic Change: Impacts on Marine Ecosystems Services

Arctic Change: Impacts on Marine Ecosystems Services
Type: 
Plenary
Time: 
17 March 2010 - 8:40am - 9:05am

Louis Fortier, Université Laval, ArcticNet

The highly dynamic and thermodynamic ice sheet that covers the Arctic Ocean and its' ancillary seas dictates biological productivity and carbon fluxes over 15 millions km2 (or 4.2%) of the global ocean surface. As far as we know, the arctic ice cover has persisted for at least the last 3.7 MA and likely longer, allowing a unique flora and fauna to evolve and adapt to some of the most extreme environmental conditions at the surface of our planet. The resulting low-diversity ecosystem of highly specialized organisms is threatened by the on-going shrinking of its icy biota. Beyond the charismatic Polar bear, intriguing organisms (many of them newly discovered), ranging in size from the ice-adapted microbes and their viruses to the ice-dwelling Polar cod and Boreal whale, will be impacted by the on-going regression of the ice, many negatively, some positively. In the short term (until 2050?) the relaxation of the severity of arctic conditions is expected to increase productivity and carrying capacity of the ecosystem, to the benefit of existing populations. However, in the longer term (by the end of the century?), the lengthening of the ice-free season on the Shelves, the dismissal of the perennial Central ice pack, the warming and mixing of the surface layer, and the intensifying penetration of Atlantic Water into Arctic basins could spell the rapid displacement of Arctic specialists by Atlantic (and Pacific) generalists. This Atlantification of the Arctic Ocean will boost its overall biological productivity and the services provided by its ecosystems, at the cost of a major loss of biodiversity.

Presentation PDF

application/pdf iconDownload PDF (14.2 MB)

Presentation Video

Associated Videos

application/octet-stream iconAssociated Video (2.26 MB)

Browse Session Abstracts

  • View abstracts for the talks in each of the plenary session
  • View abstracts for the talks in each of the parallel session
  • View abstracts for the poster presentations
  • Products
  • Attendees
  • Sponsors
  • Side Meetings
  • Video Archive
  • Press
  • ARCUS Logo
  • News
  • Organizing Committee
National Science Foundation | Division of Arctic Sciences
National Science Foundation
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere
International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Study of Environmental Arctic Change
Arctic System Science Program
Arctic System Science Program
US Arctic Research Commission
US Arctic Research Commission
North Slope Science Initiative
North Slope Science Initiative
International Arctic Science Committee
International Arctic Science Committee
Arctic Ocean Sciences Board
Arctic Ocean Sciences Board
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Alaska Ocean Observing System
Department of Energy
Department of Energy
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
World Wildlife Fund
WWF
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Association of Polar Early Career Scientists
Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
International Study of Arctic Change
International Study of Arctic Change
ArcticNet
ArcticNet
DAMOCLES
Developing Arctic Modeling and Observing Capabilities for Long-term Environmental Studies

This work is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) under the ARCUS Cooperative Agreement ARC-0618885. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.