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1. Arctic lagoon and nearshore food webs: Relative contributions of terrestrial organic matter, phytoplankton, and phytobenthos vary with consumer foraging dynamics

   https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecss.2021.107388  

   McMahon, Kelton W ; Ambrose, William G. ; Reynolds, Melinda J. ; Johnson, Beverly ; Whiting, A. ; Clough, Lisa M. ( May 2021 , Estuarine coastal and shelf science)

   null (Ed.)

   Characterizing energy flow and trophic linkages is fundamental to understanding the functioning and resilience of Arctic ecosystems under increasing pressure from climate change and anthropogenic exploitation. We used carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes to examine trophic dynamics and the relative contribution of terrestrial organic matter, water column phytoplankton, and phytobenthos (benthic micro- and macro-autotrophs as well as sea ice algae) to the food webs supporting 45 macroconsumers in three Arctic coastal lagoon ecosystems (Krusenstern, Sisualik, Akulaaq) and the adjacent Kotzebue Sound with varying degrees of connectivity in Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Alaska. A two-source (water column particulate organic matter and benthic sediment organic matter), two-isotope trophic dynamics model informed by a Bayesian isotope mixing model revealed that the Lagoon-Kotzebue Sound coastal ecosystem supported consumers along a trophic position continuum from primary consumers, including amphipods, copepods, and clams to trophic level five predators, such as seastars, piscivorous fishes, seals, and seabirds. The relative contribution of the three primary producer end members, terrestrial organic matter (41 ± 21%), phytoplankton (25 ± 21%), and phytobenthos (34 ± 23%) varied as a function of: 1) consumer foraging ecology and 2) consumer location. Suspension feeders received most of their carbon from food webs based on phytoplankton (49 ± 11%) and terrestrial organic matter (23 ± 5%), whereas herbivores and detritivores received the majority of their carbon from phytobenthos-based food webs, 58 ± 10% and 60 ± 8%, respectively. Omnivores and predators showed more even distributions of resource reliance and greater overall variance among species. Within the invertebrates, the importance of terrestrial organic matter decreased and phytobenthos increased with increasing trophic position. The importance of terrestrial organic matter contribution increased with lagoon proximity to major rivers inputs and isolation from Kotzebue Sound. Several taxa with cultural and subsistence food importance to local communities showed significant reliance (30–90% of baseline carbon) on food chains linked to fresh terrestrial organic matter. Our study indicates that terrestrial-marine linkages are important to the function of Arctic coastal lagoon ecosystems and artisanal fisheries. These linkages are likely to strengthen in the future with regional changes in erosion and runoff associated with climate change and anthropogenic disturbance. 

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2. Macroalgal input into the coastal food web along a gradient of seasonal sea ice cover along the Western Antarctic Peninsula

   https://doi.org/10.3354/meps14388  

   Iken, K ; Amsler, CD ; Gorman, KB ; Klein, AG ; Galloway, AWE ; Amsler, MO ; Heiser, S ; Whippo, R ; Lowe, AT ; Schram, JB ; et al ( September 2023 , Marine Ecology Progress Series)

   Coastal food webs that are supported by multiple primary producer sources are considered to be more stable against perturbations. Here, we investigated how declining macroalgal abundance and diversity might influence coastal food web structure along an annual sea ice cover gradient along the Western Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). The most common benthic invertebrate consumers, macroalgae, and surface particulate organic matter were collected at 15 stations along the WAP. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of primary producers changed negligibly in relation to the sea ice cover gradient, while isotope values of most invertebrate feeding groups increased with higher sea ice cover, although at low explanatory power. Food web length became shorter and consumer trophic niche width smaller in regions with higher sea ice cover. Changes in food web structure were mostly associated with shifts in trophic position of lower trophic levels. Food web structure in higher ice-covered regions resembled that of more generalist feeders with a loss of specialist species, concurrent with an increased reliance on a more reworked detrital food source. These results suggest that a number of benthic invertebrates are able to adjust to differences in basal energy sources. Conversely, these food webs dominated by generalist feeders are likely less efficient in energy transfer, which can create less-stable systems with lower adaptive capacity to disturbance. The predicted sea ice loss along the WAP may ultimately lead to a longer food web with higher macroalgal abundance, more specialist species, and wider consumer trophic niches in the currently more ice-covered regions.

    

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3. DNA metabarcoding of feces to infer summer diet of Pacific walruses

   https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.12717  

   Sonsthagen, Sarah A. ; Jay, Chadwick V. ; Cornman, Robert S. ; Fischbach, Anthony S. ; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M. ; Talbot, Sandra L. ( July 2020 , Marine Mammal Science)

   Environmental conditions in the Chukchi Sea are changing rapidly and may alter the abundance and distribution of marine species and their benthic prey. We used a metabarcoding approach to identify potentially important prey taxa from Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens) fecal samples (n= 87). Bivalvia was the most dominant class of prey (66% of all normalized counts) and occurred in 98% of the samples. Polychaeta and Gastropoda occurred in 70% and 62% of the samples, respectively. The remaining nine invertebrate classes comprised <21% of all normalized counts. The common occurrence of these three prey classes is consistent with examinations of walrus stomach contents. Despite these consistencies, biases in the metabarcoding approach to determine diet from feces have been highlighted in other studies and require further study, in addition to biases that may have arisen from our opportunistic sampling. However, this noninvasive approach provides accurate identification of prey taxa from degraded samples and could yield much‐needed information on shifts in walrus diet in a rapidly changing Arctic.

    

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4. The Pan-Arctic Continental Slope: Sharp Gradients of Physical Processes Affect Pelagic and Benthic Ecosystems

   https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.544386  

   Bluhm, Bodil A. ; Janout, Markus A. ; Danielson, Seth L. ; Ellingsen, Ingrid ; Gavrilo, Maria ; Grebmeier, Jacqueline M. ; Hopcroft, Russell R. ; Iken, Katrin B. ; Ingvaldsen, Randi B. ; Jørgensen, Lis L. ; et al ( November 2020 , Frontiers in Marine Science)

   null (Ed.)

   Continental slopes – steep regions between the shelf break and abyssal ocean – play key roles in the climatology and ecology of the Arctic Ocean. Here, through review and synthesis, we find that the narrow slope regions contribute to ecosystem functioning disproportionately to the size of the habitat area (∼6% of total Arctic Ocean area). Driven by inflows of sub-Arctic waters and steered by topography, boundary currents transport boreal properties and particle loads from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans along-slope, thus creating both along and cross-slope connectivity gradients in water mass properties and biomass. Drainage of dense, saline shelf water and material within these, and contributions of river and meltwater also shape the characteristics of the slope domain. These and other properties led us to distinguish upper and lower slope domains; the upper slope (shelf break to ∼800 m) is characterized by stronger currents, warmer sub-surface temperatures, and higher biomass across several trophic levels (especially near inflow areas). In contrast, the lower slope has slower-moving currents, is cooler, and exhibits lower vertical carbon flux and biomass. Distinct zonation of zooplankton, benthic and fish communities result from these differences. Slopes display varying levels of system connectivity: (1) along-slope through property and material transport in boundary currents, (2) cross-slope through upwelling of warm and nutrient rich water and down-welling of dense water and organic rich matter, and (3) vertically through shear and mixing. Slope dynamics also generate separating functions through (1) along-slope and across-slope fronts concentrating biological activity, and (2) vertical gradients in the water column and at the seafloor that maintain distinct physical structure and community turnover. At the upper slope, climatic change is manifested in sea-ice retreat, increased heat and mass transport by sub-Arctic inflows, surface warming, and altered vertical stratification, while the lower slope has yet to display evidence of change. Model projections suggest that ongoing physical changes will enhance primary production at the upper slope, with suspected enhancing effects for consumers. We recommend Pan-Arctic monitoring efforts of slopes given that many signals of climate change appear there first and are then transmitted along the slope domain. 

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5. Reweaving river food webs through time

   https://doi.org/10.1111/fwb.13432  

   Bowes, Rachel E. ; Thorp, James H. ; Delong, Michael D. ( December 2019 , Freshwater Biology)

   Our project sought to determine ecological effects of adding low‐head dams and levees to large rivers by examining potential changes to aquatic food webs over a 70‐year period in the Lower Ohio River (LOR) and Upper Mississippi River (UMR).

   We employed museum collections of fish and compound specific stable isotope analysis of amino acids to evaluate long‐term changes in primary food sources for multiple species of fish in each river.

   Fishes in both rivers depended more on autochthonous than allochthonous carbon sources throughout the 70‐year period (based on measurements of isotopic signatures of algae, C₃plants, C₄plants, cyanobacteria, and fungi), but the relative use of different carbon sources differed between the UMR and LOR. Significant but opposite shifts in trophic positions (TP) between rivers over time (higher TP in the UMR; lower in the LOR) were correlated with major anthropogenic changes to habitat structure (e.g. slight decrease in abundance of side channels in the UMR; increase in pool water depth in the LOR) resulting from low‐head dam construction. They may also have been influenced by likely increased primary productivity in the UMR from agricultural nitrogen inputs and by possible shifts in the importance of phytoplankton versus benthic algae in the LOR from changes in water depth. Shifts in trophic position and reliance on various food sources were not correlated with variation in discharge, gage height, or temperature.

   Although these two rivers have contrasting hydrogeomorphic complexity (UMR is an anastomosing river, while the LOR is a constricted channel river) and different discharge patterns (seasonal versus yearly operation in some cases), both differ substantially from rivers having hydrogeomorphic changes resulting from construction of high dams (>15 m). It is not surprising, therefore, that factors controlling trophic position and reliance on different carbon sources vary among different types of dams and river structures.

    

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