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Pteropod sedimentation patterns in different water depths observed with moored sediment traps over a 4-year period at the LTER station HAUSGARTEN in eastern Fram Strait

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Abstract

Pteropods are important organisms in high-latitude ecosystems, and they are expected to severely suffer from climate change in the near future. In this study, sedimentation patterns of two pteropod species, the polar Limacina helicina and the subarctic boreal L. retroversa, are presented. Time series data received by moored sediment traps at the Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Observatory HAUSGARTEN in eastern Fram Strait were analyzed during the years 2008 to 2012. Results were derived from four different deployment depths (~200, 1,250, 2,400, and 2,550 m) at two different sites (79°N 04°20′E; 79°43′N 04°30′E). A species-specific sedimentation pattern was present at all depths and at both sites showing maximal flux rates during September/October for L. helicina and in November/December for L. retroversa. The polar L. helicina was outnumbered by L. retroversa (55–99 %) at both positions and at all depths supporting the recently observed trend toward the dominance of the subarctic boreal species. The largest decrease in pteropod abundance occurred within the mesopelagic zone (~200–1,250 m), indicating loss via microbial degradation and grazing. Pteropod carbonate (aragonite) amounted up to ~75 % of the total carbonate flux at 200 m and 2–13 % of the aragonite found in the shallow traps arrived at the deep sediment traps (~160 m above the seafloor), revealing the significance of pteropods in carbonate export at Fram Strait. Our results emphasize the relevance and the need for continuation of long-term studies to detect and trace changes in pteropod abundances and community composition and thus in the vertical transport of aragonite.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the Arctic-lab team including C. Lorenzen, S. Murawski, N. Knüppel and numerous student workers for the tedious work of swimmer picking and the work in the laboratory. We greatly acknowledge the crew of RV Polarstern during the work at sea. We also thank J. Taylor and E. Bonk for correcting the language of the manuscript. We also thank two anonymous reviewers and D. Piepenburg for comments and suggestions on the previous version of the manuscript. This work was financed by institutional funds of the Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, Bremerhaven. Results presented here were obtained in the context of K. Busch´s bachelor thesis that was submitted to the Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg under associated supervision of Dr. D. Mahsberg.

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  1. Department Deep Sea Ecology and Technology, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Kathrin Busch & Eduard Bauerfeind

  2. Department Polar Biological Oceanography, Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar-und Meeresforschung, Am Handelshafen 12, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Eva-Maria Nöthig

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  1. Kathrin Busch
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  2. Eduard Bauerfeind
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Correspondence to Eduard Bauerfeind.

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Busch, K., Bauerfeind, E. & Nöthig, EM. Pteropod sedimentation patterns in different water depths observed with moored sediment traps over a 4-year period at the LTER station HAUSGARTEN in eastern Fram Strait. Polar Biol 38, 845–859 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00300-015-1644-9

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