Beschreibung: Time-series studies of arctic marine ecosystems are rare. This is not surprising since polar regions are largely only accessible by means of expensive modern infrastructure and instrumentation. In 1999, the Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz-Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) established the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN crossing the Fram Strait at about 79° N. Multidisciplinary investigations covering all parts of the open-ocean ecosystem are carried out at a total of 21 permanent sampling sites in water depths ranging between 250 and 5500 m. From the outset, repeated sampling in the water column and at the deep seafloor during regular expeditions in summer months was complemented by continuous year-round sampling and sensing using autonomous instruments in anchored devices (i.e., moorings and free-falling systems). The central HAUSGARTEN station at 2500 m water depth in the eastern Fram Strait serves as an experimental area for unique biological in situ experiments at the seafloor, simulating various scenarios in changing environmental settings. Long-term ecological research at the HAUSGARTEN observatory revealed a number of interesting temporal trends in numerous biological variables from the pelagic system to the deep seafloor. Contrary to common intuition, the entire ecosystem responded exceptionally fast to environmental changes in the upper water column. Major variations were associated with a Warm-Water-Anomaly evident in surface waters in eastern parts of the Fram Strait between 2005 and 2008. However, even after 15 years of intense time-series work at HAUSGARTEN, we cannot yet predict with complete certainty whether these trends indicate lasting alterations due to anthropologically-induced global environmental changes of the system, or whether they reflect natural variability on multiyear time-scales, for example, in relation to decadal oscillatory atmospheric processes.

Beschreibung: Between Greenland and Spitsbergen, Fram Strait is a region where cold ice-covered Polar Water exits the Arctic Ocean with the East Greenland Current (EGC) and warm Atlantic Water enters the Arctic Ocean with the West Spitsbergen Current (WSC). In this compilation, we present two different data sets from plankton ecological observations in Fram Strait: (1) long-term measurements of satellite-derived (1998–2012) and in situ chlorophyll a (chl a) measurements (mainly summer cruises, 1991–2012) plus protist compositions (a station in WSC, eight summer cruises, 1998–2011); and (2) short-term measurements of a multidisciplinary approach that includes traditional plankton investigations, remote sensing, zooplankton, microbiological and molecular studies, and biogeochemical analyses carried out during two expeditions in June/July in the years 2010 and 2011. Both summer satellite-derived and in situ chl a concentrations showed slight trends towards higher values in the WSC since 1998 and 1991, respectively. In contrast, no trends were visible in the EGC. The protist composition in the WSC showed differences for the summer months: a dominance of diatoms was replaced by a dominance of Phaeocystis pouchetii and other small pico- and nanoplankton species. The observed differences in eastern Fram Strait were partially due to a warm anomaly in the WSC. Although changes associated with warmer water temperatures were observed, further long-term investigations are needed to distinguish between natural variability and climate change in Fram Strait. Results of two summer studies in 2010 and 2011 revealed the variability in plankton ecology in Fram Strait.

Beschreibung: The by-collection of zooplankton swimmers in time-series sediment traps offers a unique insight into year-round and inter-annual trends in zooplankton population dynamics. These samples are especially valuable in remote and difficult to access areas such as the Arctic, where samples from the ice-covered winter season are rare. In the present study we investigate the year-round swimmer composition of sediment trap samples collected at water depths of 200-300 m over a period of 12 years (2000-2012) at the LTER (Long-Term Ecological Research) observatory HAUSGARTEN located in the northeastern Fram Strait (79? N, 4? E). Here we describe seasonal and inter-annual appearances within the dominant zooplankton groups including amphipods, chaetognaths, copepods, ostracods and pteropods. Amphipods and copepods made up the largest amount of the swimmer fraction. Although the seasonal occurrence of these groups was relatively consistent between years there were notable inter-annual variations in abundance that suggested the influence of different environmental conditions. In addition to these general patterns, specific changes were also detected. Notably, concerning pelagic amphipods, the occurrence of a southern invader Themisto compressa could be observed from 2004 onwards. Concurrent to this observation a reversal in dominance of the arctic pteropod species Limacina helicina towards the subarctic-boreal L. retroversa was noticed. In addition to a long-term trend in warming in eastern Fram Strait since 1997, a warm anomaly event was also observed during late 2004 to 2007. Whether these trends indicate lasting alterations due to global environmental change, or simply reflect natural variability on multiyear time-scales is presently unclear.