Description: We conducted a year-round mesozooplankton study in the Arctic Kongsfjord from August 1998 until July 1999 to investigate seasonal abundance and vertical as well as stage distributions of the prevalent taxa. It is the first investigation in Kongsfjord that covers the Arctic winter season and provides reasonable estimates also of small-sized copepod species. Abundant smaller copepods comprised Oithona similis, Pseudocalanus minutus, Microcalanus spp., Triconia borealis and Acartia longiremis. Among the larger copepods, Calanus finmarchicus, C. glacialis, C. hyperboreus and Metridia longa dominated. The thecosome pteropod Limacina helicina was also an important component. Abundance maxima occurred in November (988,669 ind. m−2) with one to two orders of magnitude higher numbers as compared to all other months (39,832–200,067 ind. m−2). The summers of 1998 and 1999 were characterized by intrusions of Atlantic water, but the community was not entirely dominated by advected boreal species. During winter, the majority of the mesozooplankton occurred below 100 m. Advection is the most likely reason for the accumulation of zooplankton at depth in winter, but local production may also contribute to high overwintering numbers. Much lower abundances of most species in spring suggest high winter mortality and emphasize the importance of sufficient reproductive success during the previous summer to ensure enough winter survivors as seed stock for the coming reproductive season. This study was conducted prior to the recent warming trend in the Arctic. Therefore, it provides valuable baseline data and allows comparing present and future states of the zooplankton community in Kongsfjord.

Description: Hyperiid amphipods are predatory pelagic crustaceans that are particularly prevalent in high-latitude oceans. Many species are likely to have co-evolved with soft-bodied zooplankton groups such as salps and medusae, using them as substrate, for food, shelter or reproduction. Compared to other pelagic groups, such as fish, euphausiids and soft-bodied zooplankton, hyperiid amphipods are poorly studied especially in terms of their distribution and ecology. Hyperiids of the genus Themisto, comprising seven distinct species, are key players in temperate and cold-water pelagic ecosystems where they reach enormous levels of biomass. In these areas, they are important components of marine food webs, and they are major prey for many commercially important fish and squid stocks. In northern parts of the Southern Ocean, Themisto are so prevalent that they are considered to take on the role that Antarctic krill play further south. Nevertheless, although they are around the same size as krill, and may also occur in swarms, their feeding behaviour and mode of reproduction are completely different, hence their respective impacts on ecosystem structure differ. Themisto are major predators of meso- and macrozooplankton in several major oceanic regions covering shelves to open ocean from the polar regions to the subtropics. Based on a combination of published and unpublished occurrence data, we plot out the distributions of the seven species of Themisto. Further, we consider the different predators that rely on Themisto for a large fraction of their diet, demonstrating their major importance for higher trophic levels such as fish, seabirds and mammals. For instance, T. gaudichaudii in the Southern Ocean comprises a major part of the diets of around 80 different species of squid, fish, seabirds and marine mammals, while T. libellula in the Bering Sea and Greenland waters is a main prey item for commercially exploited fish species. We also consider the ongoing and predicted range expansions of Themisto species in light of environmental changes. In northern high latitudes, sub-Arctic Themisto species are replacing truly Arctic, ice-bound, species. In the Southern Ocean, a range expansion of T. gaudichaudii is expected as water masses warm, impacting higher trophic levels and biogeochemical cycles. We identify the many knowlegde gaps that must be filled in order to evaluate, monitor and predict the ecological shifts that will result from the changing patterns of distribution and abundance of this important pelagic group.

Description: In this chapter, the effects of temperature change—as a main aspect of climate change—on marine biodiversity are assessed. Starting from a general discussion of species responses to temperature, the chapter presents how species respond to warming. These responses comprise adaptation and phenotypic plasticity as well as range shifts. The observed range shifts show more rapid shifts at the poleward range edge than at the equator-near edge, which probably reflects more rapid immigration than extinction in a warming world. A third avenue of changing biodiversity is change in species interactions, which can be altered by temporal and spatial shifts in interacting species. We then compare the potential changes in biodiversity to actual trends recently addressed in empirical synthesis work on local marine biodiversity, which lead to conceptual issues in quantifying the degree of biodiversity change. Finally we assess how climate change impacts the protection of marine environments.

Description: The region of the Filchner Outflow System (FOS) in the southeastern Weddell Sea is characterized by intensive and complex interactions of different water masses. Dense Ice Shelf Water (ISW) emerging from beneath the ice shelf cavities on the continental shelf, meets Modified Warm Deep Water (MWDW) originating from the Antarctic Circumpolar Current at the sill of the Filchner Trough. These hydrographic features convert the FOS into an oceanographic key region, which may also show enhanced biological productivity and corresponding aggregations of marine top predators. In this context, six adult Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) were instrumented with CTD-combined satellite relay data loggers in austral summer 2014. By means of these long-term data loggers we aimed at investigating the influence of environmental conditions on the seals’ foraging behaviour throughout seasons, focussing on the local oceanographic features. Weddell seals performed pelagic and demersal dives, mainly on the continental shelf, where they presumably exploited the abundant bentho-pelagic fish fauna. Diurnal and seasonal variations in light availability affected foraging activities. MWDW was associated with increased foraging effort. However, we observed differences in movements and habitat use between two different groups of Weddell seals. Seals tagged in the pack ice of the FOS focussed their foraging activities to the western and, partly, eastern flank of the Filchner Trough, which coincides with inflow pathways of MWDW. In contrast, Weddell seals tagged on the coastal fast ice exhibited typical central-place foraging and utilized resources close to their colony. High foraging effort in MWDW and high utilization of areas associated with an inflow of MWDW raise questions on the underlying biological features. This emphasizes the importance of further interdisciplinary ecological investigations in the near future, as the FOS may soon be impacted by predicted climatic changes.